The Crow
by misao1000
Summary: This is my version of a story, based on the movie The Crow. There are some differences however, but instead of telling them here, you can find out in the story.
1. Prologue

(A/N: This story centers on the Naruto universe, but it is set up in a more modern time. Instead of kunai and other familiar weapons, guns will be used. Also the Kyuubi attack, and the Uchiha massacre, never happened.

As for those who have seen the movie The Crow staring Brandon Lee, this is a entirely different scenario. In the movie, Brandon Lee's character was brought back from the dead. In this story, the main character will be female, as seen in the television series, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.)

**Diclaimer:** I do not in anyway whatsoever own the rights to the movie The Crow, or any of it's other series. This is a work of pure fiction, and is for entertainment purposes only, and in no way used for profit.

Also I do not own any of the rights to the series Naruto, or any of its characters. Once again, this is purely a work of fiction, and is not created for profit.

**Warning:** The following story contains strong language, extreme graphical violence, sexual situations, and drinking. If you are easily offended by any of these things, then do not read any further. I do not want to hear any negative feedback from people who ignored this warning, and feel that I need to be told that I have a sick and twisted mind, and should be ashamed of myself for writing such a story.

**Prologue**

In the city of Konoha, everyone pretty much got by, by either keeping to themselves or siding with the mysterious group known only as Root. The city was infested with crime, which ranged from common theft to murder. The Konoha Police force tried to keep it under control, but was so undermanned that they couldn't handle every single case that came across the Chiefs desk. The chief knew Root was behind all the crime, but since he didn't have any idea as to who the people affiliated with Root was, the crime wave continued to escalate out of control.  
-

Working at his desk, one Uchiha Fugaku gave out a tired sigh, as he looked over report after report of numerous crimes that had been committed in just the past twenty four hours. 'Are we ever going to get catch a break, from this Root problem.' he thought. As he was about to go back to his work, there was a knock on his office door. "Come in."

As Fugaku sat up in his chair, the door to his office opened, and a young woman with shoulder length black hair entered the office, closing the door behind herself. As the woman came to stand in front of his desk, Fugaku sent her a friendly smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Misao-chan?"

"Hello Fugaku-san." said Misao, reaching inside of the coat she was wearing. As Misao withdrew her hand from inside her coat, she pulled out a large manila folder.

"What is it, that you have there, Misao-chan?" asked Fugaku, looking at the folder.

"It is the answer to all of your problems Fugaku-san." said Misao, holding the folder out to him. Leaning forward in his chair, Fugaku gave Misao a curious look and took the folder from her. He then sat back in his chair, opened the folder, and pulling out the numerous papers inside began to look over the contents.

After several minutes had passed, he looked towards Misao. "Where did you get this information, Misao-chan?".

"A man came to my home this morning and said he wanted to offer me a job opportunity." said Misao. "Well as you know Fuguka-san, since my husband passed away last year, I have been looking for any kind of work.". Misao sees Fugaku nod, and continues. "Well, I asked what kind of job he was offering, and he gave me that folder saying all of the needed information was inside. He then told me, to read over everything, and then to meet with a person later today with my answer."

Fugaku remaining silent, looked back at the papers still held in his hand. "Misao-chan, while this information will prove very useful, I must ask. Why put yourself at risk, by bringing it to me?"

"Fugaku-san, you should know the answer to that." said Misao. "People are dieing everyday, because of Root. If the information in that folder means that children like my daughter Keiko, has at least a chance of growing up without the fear of being killed, i'll gladly take the risk."

Fugaku let out a sigh. "What do you want me to do, Misao-chan? You know very well, that if I take this folder and make any arrest, it is going to come back to you in some form."

"I am aware of that, Fugaku-san. And if you can spare him, I may have a solution for that." Misao pauses and, Fugaku gives her a nod to continue. "Well, I was hoping Minato-san could be given to me as protection, until I can figure something else out."

"Sorry Misao-chan, but Minato is out of town until next week." said Fugaku. "However, if you are willing to take someone else, I do have a person in mind that is almost as good as Minato."

"I would prefer Minato-san, but if you're sure this person is capable Fugaku-san, I will accept them." said Misao.

Getting to his feet, Fugaku made his way around his desk, and over to his office door. "Follow me, Misao-chan.", opens the door, and makes his way out of the office. As they walked through the station, Fugaku asked. "What time are you supposed to meet this person you mentioned, with your answer Misao-chan?".

Misao looks at her watch. "I have a little bit over two hours left." she said. "Also Fugaku-san, If I don't accept the job offer, I will need to return that folder to the one meeting me, so I am going to need it back."

Giving her a nod, Fugaku continued to walk through the station, finally stopping in front of the dispatch station. "Sukora-chan, I need copies made of everything contained inside of this folder." said Fugaku, as he held out the folder. "I will also need the folder returned to me, once you are finished."

"Yes sir, Chief Uchiha." said Sukora, taking the folder and getting to her feet. As Sukora went off to do her task, Fugaku started walking again and motioned for Misao to follow him.

Some minutes later, Fugaku stopped outside of a door. Misao was just about to read the name plate over the door, when Fugaku opened the door without knocking, and made his way inside. "Mizuki!" shouted Fugaku, scaring a man with white hair.

"What's the big idea, Chief?" asked Mizuki, holding his hand over his heart. "You trying to kill me or something."

Fugaku ignored Mizuki's outcry, as Misao came into the room. "I have a highly dangerous assignment for you, since Minato is out of town." said Fugaku.

Mizuki looking over at Misao, asked. "What kind of assignment, Chief?"

"Misao-chan here has provided us with some vital information on Root." said Fugaku. "She is going to need protection once we move on this information, so it is going to be up to you to watch over her until either Minato gets back, or something else happens.". Fugaku stopped for a few moments, to see if Mizuki had any questions, and when none came forward, he continued. "Your first task on this assignment Mizuki, is to accompany Misao-chan to a meeting she is having with a Root operative. Under no circumstances are you to interrupt this meeting. You are to watch as the meeting takes place, and once it is complete, return Misao-chan to her home were the rest of your assignment will be carried out. Is that clear, Mizuki?"

"Yes sir." said Mizuki.

"I'll let you two get better acquainted, while I go see if Sukora-chan is done with her copy work."

Fugaku makes his way past Misao and out of Mizuki's office, as Misao watches him go.

"So, you're this Misao-chan I have heard about." said Mizuki, drawing Misao's attention back to him. "Minato-san, talks about you almost every time I see him."

"I hope it is all good talk, Mizuki-san." said Misao.

"Oh it is." said Mizuki. "Anyway, I guess since I am to protect you for awhile, my work here is done for now.", reaches out his hand, and after a few clicks of a computer mouse, turns off his computer. He then gets to his feet, and makes his way over to the door. "Shall we go, Misao-chan?"

Misao gives him a nod, and Mizuki opens the door for her. As Misao leaves his office, Mizuki grabs his coat off of a nearby coat rack, and as he is slipping it on joins her out in the hallway. Mizuki then leads Misao back towards the dispatch area, where they run into Fugaku. Coming over to stand in front of Misao, Fugaku held out his hand which held a manila folder. "Here is your folder back, Misao-chan."

Misao takes the folder from him, and returns it to the inside of her coat. Misao starts to say something to Fugaku, but before she can do so he embraces her in a hug. "Please be careful, Misao-chan." said Fugaku.

"I'll be fine, Fugaku-san." said Misao.

Fugaku let her go, and nodded. He then turned his attention to Mizuki. "You better protect her, Mizuki."

"I will, Chief." said Mizuki.

Fugaku started to say something more, but just nodded and made his way past Misao and Mizuki, heading towards his office. Misao who had turned to watch Fugaku with a look of concern, was drawn back to the moment, as Mizuki asked. "Misao-chan, what time are you supposed to meet this Root operative?"

Turning back to look at him, Misao looked at her watch. "I still have over a hour and half, Mizuki-san. Why?"

"Well, if I am going to protect you for a undetermined amount of time, I was wondering if I would have time to check out the security of your home, before the meeting. This way, if anything needs fixed we have time to do it."

Misao could see the logic in his words, but in truth she didn't really want to let anyone into her home, except for Minato who had been there a few times before. "I would prefer if we didn't Mizuki-san, but considering that I am going to need protecting, you do bring up a valid point." said Misao. "If you need to see my home before the meeting, we should go since I live outside of the city, and it will take a bit to get there."

Mizuki nods, and starts walking towards the front entrance. Misao pauses for a moment to look back at Fugaku's office, before turning away from it and following Mizuki out of the station.  
-

Some minutes after leaving the station in Mizuki's car, Mizuki turned into the driveway of a very large house, sitting on top of a hill. As he killed the car, Mizuki let out a small wow as he turned to Misao. "You really live here, Misao-chan?" he asked.

Misao nodded. "However, before you get to excited Mizuki-san, you should know that it did belong to my husband." said Misao. "However, when he died last year it became mine."

Mizuki could tell that Misao didn't wish to talk about her husband, so he just opened his door and climbed out of the car. Misao joining him, made her way towards the front door as Mizuki followed. Reaching the front door, Misao who had taken out her keys while walking, inserted her housekey into the deadbolt lock, and unlocked it. She then placed her hand upon the door handle, and pushing a button latch, pushed the door open making her way into the house. Mizuki was about to follow her, but before he could do so, something landed on Misao's back.

Mizuki started to reach for his gun, but at the sound of laughter he stopped and looked into the house. There he found Misao, with a small black haired girl, upon her back.

"Kaa-san, you're back!" called the girl.

"Yes i'm back, Keiko-chan." said Misao. "Now can you get off of me, so I can show this gentleman around the house."

Keiko unwrapping her arms from around her mother's neck, slid down Misao's back and landed perfectly on her feet. She then turned to face Mizuki, and with a smile on her face, asked. "Are you my Kaa-san's new boyfriend?"

"Keiko?" shouted Misao, with a slight blush on her face. "Mizuki-san is not my boyfriend. He is a police officer, assigned to protect us for a while."

Keiko turning to face her mother, asked. "Kaa-san, did you get in trouble again?"

"No, I didn't get into any trouble." said Misao, with a hint of exasperation in her voice. "Keiko-chan, how about you go to your room and play, while I show Mizuki-san around?"

"Ok, Kaa-san." called Keiko, as she ran out of the room. Soon as Misao heard the closing of a door, she turned to face Mizuki. "I'm sorry about that, Mizuki-san." said Misao. "I don't know why, but everytime I bring home a man that Keiko doesn't know, she thinks they are my new boyfriend."

"No need to apologize, Misao-chan." said Mizuki, with a smile on his face. "Anyway, since we are pressed for time, shall we began the tour of your home, so I can ascertain how safe it is?"

Misao gives him a nod, and begins to show him around the house.  
-

Forty-five minutes after starting the tour, Misao and Mizuki were standing inside a large training room. "This training room, is even bigger then the one at the station." said Mizuki, looking around at the various equipment.

"It all belonged to my husband." said Misao, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "This is the second time I have been in here, since he died. It brings back to many memories, so I don't use it."

Mizuki understanding, asks." Shall we return upstairs, then?"

Misao who had stayed near the stairs, made her way up them, as Mizuki took one more look around the room before joining her. Once Mizuki had rejoined her upstairs, Misao asked. " So, is my home safe enough for you, Mizuki-san?"

"Yes it is, Misao-chan." said Mizuki. "You have a working security system, all the windows stay locked, and the front and back doors are made of heavy oak, so they would be hard to break open. Only way anyone could get in here, without alerting anyone was if they had the key, or someone let them in."

"My husband prided himself on safety." said Misao "Especially when it came to his family".

Mizuki started to ask something, but Misao looked over towards a wall clock, and saw that she had thirty minutes, to get to the designated meeting place. "I can see you want to ask a question, Mizuki-san, but if we don't leave now I will miss the meeting with Root".

"Where is the meeting, to take place?" asked Mizuki.

" At the restaurant, Hiroshoni" said Misao.

"Hmm, that is on the other side of the city." said Mizuki. "I may have to break of few speed limits, but since the chief told me to accompany you to the meeting, i'm sure he won't mind."

Misao sent him a smile, and made her way quickly upstairs. Reaching a door, she knocked upon it and called out. "Keiko-chan, I need to leave again for a bit, so you are to stay in the house until I return, ok?"

"Ok, Kaa-san." called Keiko.

Turning away from the door, Misao rushed back downstairs and into the living room, to find Mizuki waiting near the front door, with her coat held in his hands. Going over to him, she gave him a smile, and taking the coat from him, slipped it on. After a quick check to make sure, the folder was still inside her coat, Misao and Mizuki made their way out of the house, with Misao stopping just long enough to relock the front door.  
-

Mizuki wasn't kidding when he said he would break a few speed limits, for it was only twenty minutes later, when he pulled to a stop a couple of block from Hiroshoni's.

"You will need to walk from here, Misao-chan." said Mizuki. "Reason for this, is most likely this Root operative has a guard and I am kinda well know."

"I understand, Mizuki-san" said Misao, opening her door and getting out.

As Misao closed the door, Mizuki rolled down the window on her side. "I am going to move a bit closer to Hiroshoni, so I am able to keep an eye on you during the meeting, Misao-chan."

Misao nodded, and stepped back from the car. As Mizuki pulled away from the curb, Misao took off walking towards the restaurant.

Arriving at the restaurant a few minutes later, Misao started to make her way inside. However, before she could do so, she was approached by a fairly muscular man, wearing a blue shirt and white pants. "Are you Mikachi Misao?" asked the man.

"I am." said Misao, a little nervous.

"Please follow me." said the man, turning and walking away.

Following the man with caution, Misao was lead to a table where another man was sitting. As Misao and the other man approached, the man who had been sitting down, got to his feet. "Ah Mrs Mikachi, it is a pleasure to meet you." said the man, holding out his hand. As Misao took his hand, he shook hers gently before motioning to the empty chair across from him. "Please have a seat, my dear."

As Misao did as she was asked, the man who had accompanied her went to stand behind the other man, who had returned to his seat. "Now then Mrs Mikachi." said the man sitting down. "We are here to discuss your job offer, to the organization known as Root. Have you come to a decision or do you need more time?"

"I have made a decision, sir." said Misao. "Although I could really use the money offered, I am sorry to say that I won't be joining Root."

The man looked a little disappointed at Misao's answer, but soon gave her a smile. "I understand Mrs Mikachi." said the man. "While I admit I am a little disappointed by your answer, I can accept it. Now then, there is the matter of the folder you was given this morning. I need you to return it."

Misao reaching into her coat, pulled out the manila folder and held it out to the man. Taking the folder from Misao, the man gave it a quick look through, and once satisfied that everything was there, he handed it off to his guard. The man then picked up the glass beside him and finished off his drink. He then got to his feet, and picked up the jacket he had laying over the back of his chair. As he slipped on the jacket, he said. "We will be in touch from time to time Mrs Mikachi, just incase you change your mind."

"I do thank you for the offer sir, but I doubt my answer will change." said Misao.

"You never know, Mrs Mikachi." said the man. "Have a good day." As Misao watched them, the two men made their way towards a car parked nearby, and both men climbed into the back seat. A few moments later, the car pulled away and Misao let out a relived sigh. She then got to her feet, and after looking around for a few moments found Mizuki's car parked across the street.

Getting a break in traffic, Misao made her way across the street and up to Mizuki's car. Opening the passenger side door, she climbed inside and closed the door behind her. "Was everything ok, Misao-chan?" asked Mizuki, as Misao put on her seat belt. Misao told Mizuki everything that was said during the meeting, and once she was finished he spoke. "Once we return to your home Misao-chan, I'll call the Chief and let him know what took place at the meeting."

Misao gave him a nod, and not to long later they were heading back towards Misao's home, with a subdued silence.  
-

Two days later, Misao was sitting at her kitchen table reading the morning paper when a headline caught her attention. "Thanks in part to a unnamed informant, the Konoha Police force conducted a huge raid last night, which resulted in several arrests of individuals associated with the organization, know only as Root. Police Chief Uchiha Fugaku, didn't release any names of those arrested since it is still a ongoing investigation.". Finishing reading, Misao looked up from the paper as Mizuki came into the room.

"Morning Misao-chan." he said, making his way over to the coffee pot. "Did you see the story about, the arrest made to Root?".

"Morning Mizuki-san." said Misao. "And yes I did see it. However, it didn't give any names or pictures, of those who were arrested."

Hearing a hint of worry in Misao's voice, Mizuki said. "You're worried, that since there is no pictures that this might come back to you, in some way."

"Well, yea." said Misao. "I mean, here it is only two days since I turned down their offer, and now many of their members were arrested. Couldn't Fugaku-san have waited at least a week or so?"

"I can see your worried Misao-chan, and I don't blame you." said Mizuki, coming over to stand in front of her. "If it makes you feel better, I will call the Chief and see if he can send another unit over, to help with the guard detail."

"Thank you, Mizuki-san." said Misao calming down a little bit.

Mizuki sent her a smile, and making his way over to the kitchen door made his way into the living room. A few minutes later, Misao heard him talking to someone. She assumed he was talking to Fugaku, so she went back to reading the paper.

Some minutes later, Mizuki made his way back into the kitchen. As Misao looked up at him, he said. "The Chief said he would send another car over, as soon as one came available."

"Thank you Mizuki-san." said Misao" You really are a good officer, and in the last few days you have become a good friend to me, and Keiko", gets to her feet, and coming over to him embraces him in a hug.

"You're very welcome Misao-chan." said Mizuki, returning the hug. " And I promise you, I will not let anything happen to either you or your daughter."

Several hours later as Misao was putting Keiko to bed, Mizuki came into the room to find Misao holding a small music box upside down, and turning something underneath. A few moments later, the room was filled with music, and Misao returned the music box to a table beside the bed. "Sleep well Keiko-chan, for you have a big day tomorrow." said Misao.

"Night Kaa-san" said Keiko, turning onto her side.

Misao returned the good night, and brushing a few loose hairs away from Keiko's face, placed a kiss on her cheek. After pulling the covers up over Keiko, Misao joined Mizuki at the door and the two of them left the room, closing the door behind themselves. As they returned towards the living room, Mizuki asked. "Misao-chan, if I may ask what was the name of that song I heard, in Keiko-chan's room."

"It is a song called, I will always be there." said Misao. "Keiko feel in love with the song the first time she heard it, so I had that music box crafted specially for her. This way, she can always hear the song, and know that no matter what happens, I will always be there for her".

Misao noticing that Mizuki seemed distracted about something, asked. "Is something wrong, Mizuki-san?".

"No. I was just thinking about my own family." said Mizuki. "Anyway since it is late Misao-chan, how about if you head to bed and I will clean up the dishes?".

"That's alright Mizuki-san." said Misao. " You are a guest here, and I can't ask you to do the work that is my responsibility."

Misao starts to head towards the kitchen, when Mizuki catches her wrist. "Misao-chan, I insist." he said "After all, you told Keiko-chan she had a big day tomorrow, so that means you have one as well."

"Alright Mizuki-san, if you insist on doing all of the work, I will head to bed." said Misao. However, you have to let me make it up to you, somehow."

"Alright Misao-chan." said Mizki. "Sleep well".

After Mizuki had released her wrist, Misao headed back towards the stairs. Reaching them, she turned back to face him, and sent him a smile. "Night Mizuki-san, and thank you for everything you have done for us." said Misao

"You're very welcome, Misao-chan." said Mizuki." And don't worry about a thing. I will have your home so spotless, that you won't recognize it in the morning."

Misao sent him one more smile, and turning back around headed up the stairs towards her room.  
-**(1)**

Feeling someone slapping her face, Misao opened her eyes to find a man standing over her. "Time to wake up, bitch!"

Coming to full alertness when a cry came from Keiko, Misao looked around and found herself leaning against the wall of her training room. "What is going on here?" she yelled. "Where is my daughter?"

"Kaa-san!" called Keiko, which drew Misao's attention towards her.

"Keiko!" cried Misao, finding Keiko in the arms of a very large man.

Misao tried to get to her feet in order to help Keiko, but found that she couldn't move an inch. "What are you bastards doing to my daughter?"

As Misao glared at the men holding Keiko, she heard a voice out of her sight. "We are using your precious daughter to teach you a lesson, Misao-chan."

Turning her head just enough that she could see the person, Misao couldn't believe who she saw. "Mizuki-san, why?"

"Simple really, Misao-chan." said Mizuki, with a smile. "You turned down the offer of joining Root, and for that our boss is very unhappy with you. Also add in the fact, that you gave the information he entrusted you to the police, and well, he decided that you are too much of a liability and has ordered that you be terminated."

" I trusted you!" shouted Misao.

"Oh please." said Mizuki, with a wave of his hand. "You better then anyone should know that trust is never an absolute. Just look what happened to your husband, when he became to trusting of others."

"What are you saying?" asked Misao.

"Your husband trusted me to watch his back, not knowing that I had already sworn my allegiance to Root. " said Mizuki. "You should know the rest, since it was in the papers and Chief Fugaku personally came by to deliver the sad news."

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" yelled Misao. " WHEN I GET FREE, YOU WILL REGRET DOING THIS!"

"Now now Misao-chan, is that anyway to talk to the person who holds your daughters life in their hands?"asks Mizuki, walks over to the man holding Keiko, and stretching out his hand places it on Keiko's cheek and caresses her.

"Don't you dare touch her!" shouts Misao, struggling to get free.

Mizuki sighs, and lowers his hand. " I am growing tired of your shouting Misao-chan." said Mizuki, as someone kicked Misao in the side. You brought this upon yourself, when you betrayed Root's trust and turned over the contents of that folder to the police."

Gasping for breath, Misao managed to say. "I did what I did, so my daughter and every other child in this city, would have a future without the worry of being robbed or killed."

Mizuki looked at her, and smiled. "While I will admit your choice was admirable, you knew this would happen and yet you still did it. Now I have a job to carry out. However, before I kill you I will allow you to watch, as my men show you that all actions have consequences", nods his head towards the man holding Keiko. "Do it".

As Misao watched in horror, the man holding Keiko used his free hand, and grabbing Keiko's top, tore it off of her.

"Please don't hurt her!" shouted Misao, with tears in her eyes. If someone needs to pay for what I did, then kill me."

Mizaki coming over to stand in front of Misao, knelt down and with a quick movement, punched her in the gut, which caused Misao to fall forwards gasping for air. "Shut up, Bitch! You brought this upon yourself, so sit back and watch the show".

Standing up, Mizuki grabbed a handful of Misao's hair, and pulling her head upwards made her watch as the men in the room gathered around Keiko, and began to rub their hands over her young body. A few moments later, there was another ripping sound, and Keiko's night pants and panties were ripped away, and dropped to the floor, leaving her in nothing.

As the man holding Keiko used his free hand to lower his pants and boxers, Keiko looked towards her mother. Misao as long as she lived, would never forget the look of desperation she saw in her daughters eyes at that moment. As Misao told Keiko she was so sorry this had to happen, the man holding Keiko moved her just a bit, and forced her down onto his erect cock. Keiko's screams of pain, echoed throughout the room, as Misao closed her eyes crying.  
-

Early the next morning, the bodies of Misao and Keiko were found dumped in a alleyway. The police conducted a full investigation, but turned up nothing. Mizuki vanished and was never found, so it was assumed that he had been killed along with Misao and Keiko, and his body dumped elsewhere.

Misao and Keiko were buried next to each other, in Konoha cemetery. All of their friends were there, upset that the lives of two young people were cut short.

**End of Prologue**

**Bold Number.**

**1.** This is a time skip, for what happened after Misao went to bed, and Mizuki's betrayal. I couldn't come up with anything to write for how Misao was betrayed, so I just skipped it.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

It had been one year to the day, since Mikachi Misao and her daughter Keiko had been found murdered. No new leads had been found, and so far no one has come forward with any information pretaining to this tragedy.

Inside the Konoha Police Department, one Namikaze Minato was to be found in his office, either working or looking over a picture. Today he was working, by looking over a file containing information pretaining to a recent crime. He shifted in his chair to reach for a pen in order to write down some notes, when his desk phone rang. Picking up the receiver, he placed it to his ear and spoke. "Konoha Police Department, Detective Namikaze, speaking."

"Hello Minato, hope I am not interrupting anything."

"Not at all, Kushina." said Minato.

"I am sorry to call you at work Minato, but I just got off the phone with Naru's seems, Naru-chan didn't go to school today."

"Considering what day it is, I am not really surprised." said Minato. "Naru-chan, is most likely at the cemetery."

"Hard to believe, it has already been a year you know." said Kushina.

"Yea, I know." said Minato. "And in all of this time, we are no closer to finding out who was responsible." While Minato was on the phone, there was a knock on his office door. "Hold on, Kushina.", lowers the phone, and calls out. "Come in." As his office door opens, Minato goes back to his call. "I'm sure Naru-chan is fine, but if she is not home before I get off, I'll go pick her up."

"Ok." said Kushina. "Try not to work to hard."

Minato sends her a laugh. "I can't promise anything." he said. "See you later."

Hearing a bye from Kushina, Minato hangs up the phone and turns to the person standing near his door.

"Important call?" asked the newcomer.

"Just my wife, telling me our daughter skipped school today." said Minato.

"I see." said the newcomer. "Anyway, as to why I am here sir. Chief Uchiha has changed the time of today's meeting from four pm to two pm, and has given me the task of telling everyone."

"Ok, and thanks for the message, Kakashi." said Minato.

Kakashi gave Minato a nod, and turning back to the door made his way out of the office, so he could continue his task. Minato meanwhile, went back to the file he had been reading before Kushina had called him.

An hour later, Minato was found seated inside the meeting room, along with every officer on the police force. 'Must be some major announcement, for Fugaku to call everyone back to the station.' thought Minato, looking around the room.

As Minato continued to look around the room, he failed to notice the person who came to stand next to him. "Excuse me sir, but is this seat taken?"

Turning back to the person who had spoken, Minato found a woman with purple hair standing next to him. "No, you can sit here." said Minato.

"Thanks." said the woman, sitting down. "I don't think we have met before, I'm Mitarashi Anko.", holds out her hand to him.

Taking her hand, Minato gives it a firm shake. "Namikaze Minato." he said.

"No way!" said Anko. "Are you really Namikaze Minato?"

Minato sends her a smile. "Last I checked I was." he said.

"I'm sorry for being excited about meeting you, sir." said Anko. "But I read all about you at my old precinct. And some people, make you out to be some kind of legend."

"I don't know about a legend." said Minato, deciding to change the subjct. "You said you heard about me from your old precinct, Mitarashi-chan. If I may ask, what specifications do you have?"

Before Anko could answer him, Fugaku made his way into the room and came to stand in front of everyone. "Everyone, please have a seat and we can get this over with." As everyone who had been standing moved to sit down, Minato noticed that Fugaku had looked over at him, with a look of sympathy on his face. 'Why do I have the feeling, this announcement is not going to be good?' thought Minato.

Once everyone had taken a seat, Fugaku started the meeting. "Before I go any further with this announcement, I want each and everyone of you to know, that I had nothing to do with this decision." said Fugaki, taking a deep breath. "The city council has declared, that the murder case involving Mikachi Misao and her daughter Keiko, is now officially closed."

If anyone had been standing outside of the meeting room, they would have thought a bomb had gone off, because of the loud shouts from inside the room.

"You can't be serious, Chief?" shouted one person at the back of the room.

"Misao-chan was to nice a person, for us to let this decision stand!" shouted another person.

Fugaku held up his hands, and made a motion for quiet. Once everyone had calmed down, he said. "I know exactly how each and every one of you feels, since Misao-chan was my friend as well. And as I said before, I don't agree with this decision. However as each of you know, it is the councils decision on whither or not old case files are closed or not. I am sorry, and wish I could do something, but my hands are tied."

Fugaku sent one more look towards Minato, and shaking his head made his way over towards the door. Reaching the door, he opened it and made his way out of the room. Soon as the door had closed behind Fugaku, the shouts that had occurred early, started up again.

"How can the council make a decision like that?" shouted a person, off to Minato's left. "After all, Misao-chan was friends with some of them too."

"There has to be a hidden motive here." said a person, near the front of the room. "For ever since that new mysterious council member became the head of the council, there has been a lot of questionable decisions made."

The shouting and questions continued for a long time, and no one even noticed when Minato got to his feet, and made his way out of the room. Closing the door behind himself, Minato leaned back against the meeting room wall and closed his eyes.

"Are you ok, Minato?"

Opening his eyes, Minato looked around and found Fugaku standing a few feet away. "I'm alright sir." said Minato. "I just can't believe the council would close a case like this one."

"I know what you mean, Minato." said Fugaku. "But like I said, my hands are tied on this matter, and there is nothing I can do about it."

Minato nods in understanding, and turning away from Fugaku, makes his way back to his office.  
-

Around five o'clock that afternoon, Minato having finished up his work, picks up the receiver on his desk side phone, and punching in a number waits for a answer. Five rings later, Kushina answers. "Namikaze residence."

"Hey Kushina, it's me." said Minato. "I was just calling to see, if Naru-chan had come home?"

"No, she hasn't." said Kushina. "And I am starting to get worried."

"My shift just ended, so i'll go find her." said Minato. "While I'm out, do you need me to pick up anything?".

"I can't think of anything." said Kushina.

"Ok." said Minato. "I should be home in about a hour or so."

"Ok, Minato." said Kushina. "Bye."

Minato says bye, and hangs up the phone. He then gets to his feet, and making his way out from behind his desk, heads towards his office door. Reaching the door, he stops long enough to take down his jacket and slip on. He then turns off the light to his office, and makes his way out of it, heading towards the front doors. He was just about to push open the front door, when a voice behind him called out. "Namikaze-san, do you have a minute?"

Turning around, Minato found Anko hurrying towards him. "What can I do for you, Mitarashi-chan?" asked Minato, once Anko stopped in front of him.

"I hope I am not intruding on anything, but I noticed that you acted more strongly about the news concerning Mikachi-san, than anyone else did." said Anko. "Was she a good friend of yours?".

"She used to baby-sit my daughter." said Minato. Anko started to say more, but Minato held up his hand. "Mitarashi-chan, I am not trying to be rude, but it has been a long day today and I still need to go find my daughter. If you still want to know some stuff about Misao-chan, we can talk some more in the morning."

"Oh ok." said Anko. "And Namikaze-san, for what it is worth I am sorry to hear about her case being closed."

Minato sent her smile. "Thanks, Mitarashi-chan." he said. "Good night."

As Minato made his way out of the station, Anko called a good night to him, but wasn't to sure he had heard it, since the door closed rather quickly.

As Minato made his way towards his car, he heard in the distance a clap of thunder. 'Can this day, get any worse?' he thought with a sigh. Reaching his car, he took out his keys and unlocking the door, opened it and climbed inside. Putting the key in the ignition, he started the car and after putting on his seatbelt, put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb heading towards Konoha Cemetery.  
-

By the time Minato had pulled up outside of the cemetery gates, the storm he had heard as he left the station, had arrived and was now pouring heavy rain. Coming to a complete stop outside of the gates, Minato put his car in park, but left it running. Turning around in his seat, he reached into the back seat and picked up an umbrella. Opening his door, he placed the umbrella outside, opened it and climbed out of the car, closing the door behind himself.

Making his way around the car towards the gate, he saw a small hint of orange deep inside the cemetery. Reaching the gate, he reached out his arm and pushing upwards on the latch, let the gate swing open. Once the gate was open, he made his way inside and headed towards the spot he had seen the hint of orange.

As Minato reached the place he had seen the hint of orange, he found the person he had come looking for, sitting on the ground before two graves. "Naru-chan?" asked Minato.

The person sitting on the ground, gave a small jump and got to their feet. Turning around, they faced the person who came up behind them. "Oh it's you Tou-san." said Naru.

Minato came to stand beside her, covering her with the umbrella. He then looked at the two graves, and saw there was fresh flowers atop them both. As Naru turned back to face the graves, Minato spoke in a gentle voice. "I see you brought fresh flowers."

Naru nodded. "As I was passing by the Yamanaka flower shop, Sukina-san saw me." said Naru. "She called me inside, and handed the flowers to me asking if I would put them out for her, since she had to watch the shop." Minato placed his hand upon Naru's shoulder, and pulled her close. "Tou-san, can I ask you question?"

"Of course, you can Naru-chan." said Minato.

"Why do such good people have to die?" asked Naru.

"I really wish I knew, Naru-chan." said Minato.

Seeming content with his answer, Naru asked another question. "Tou-san, you are doing all you can to find the ones that did this right?"

Minato having a feeling this question would be asked, took a few minutes, before he answered. "Naru-chan, I was given some bad news today about that".

Naru looked up at him, with a look of confusion. "What do you mean, Tou-san?".

Minato knelt down so he was looking into Naru's eyes, and said. "The council has decided, that the case concerning Misao-chan and Keiko-chan, is to be closed."

Naru was at a lose for words for several minutes, as she looked towards the graves of her friends. "How can they do that?" she asked. "I mean..."

"Naru, I don't blame you for being upset." said Minato, as Naru looked back at him. "When Fugaku-san gave all of the officers the message, they were upset about it as well."

"Then, does that mean Misao-san and Keiko-chan's killers are going to go unpunished?" asked Naru, on the verge of tears.

Minato reached his arm out towards Naru, and wrapping it around her, pulled her into a hug. "I really do wish there was something I could do Naru-chan, but with no new evidence, and no one coming forward with any information my hands as well as the police forces, are tied."

Minato felt Naru nod, before pulling away from him, and turning back to face the two graves. Minato returned to his feet, aiming to let Naru have a few more minutes, but seeing her shiver had him reconsider this. "Naru-chan, have you been here all day?" he asked.

Naru nodded, and said. "Since it was the one year anniversary of their deaths, I decided to come here and spend time with them. I'm sorry I skipped school, Tou-san".

"It's alright Naru-chan." said Minato. "I don't blame you for wanting to stay, but your mother is worried about you. How about if we return home for now?"

"Ok, Tou-san." said Naru.

As Minato placed his arm across Naru's shoulders, and began to gently pull her around so they could leave, a crow landed atop Misao's headstone. "Caw caw."

Naru let out a small laugh, as she turned to look back at the bird. "Looks like the night watchman, is here Tou-san." she said.

"Looks that way, Naru-chan." said Minato. "Now come on, we really should get out of the rain."

As Minato lead Naru towards the cemetery gate, the crow let out one final caw, and started to peck at Misao's headstone.  
-

Having arrived back at his car, Minato opened the passenger side door and Naru climbed inside. After closing the passenger side door, Minato took a quick look back towards Misao and Keiko's graves, and giving a sigh, made his way around the car to the drivers side. Opening his door, he climbed inside and closing the umbrella tossed it into the back seat. As he pulled his door closed, and started to put the car in gear, Naru asked. "Tou-san, could we stop for some ramen before going home?".

"Sure we can, Naru-chan." said Minato.

Putting his car in gear, Minato made a circle and was soon heading back towards the city. As Minato made his way back towards the city, he would occasionally glance over at Naru, who was staring out the window. Hearing her sigh, he asked. "What's wrong, Naru-chan?"

"It's nothing, Tou-san." said Naru. "I was just thinking about all the time, I spent with Misao-san and Keiko-chan."

The rest of the trip back into the city was done in silence, and before too long Minato had pulled up in front of a small stand. After putting the car in park, and killing the ignition, Minato reached into the backseat, picked up the umbrella and handed it to Naru. Telling him a small thanks, Naru opened her door, and placing the umbrella outside opened it, and climbed out of the car. Closing her door, she then hurried towards the stand, as Minato opened his door, got out and closing his door, soon joined her inside.

As the two took a seat, a older man came out of a back room. "Hello Minato-kun, Naru-chan."

"Hello Teuchi-san." said Minato.

"Hey old man." said Naru, which earned her a look from her father.

"Naru, don't be rude." admonished Minato.

"It's alright, Minato-kun." said Teuchi, with a wave of his hand. "Pretty much all of the kids, call me old man."

Minato just nodded, and let the matter drop.

"So, what can I get for the two of you?" asked Teuchi.

"I'll have a Miso Ramen, please" said Naru.

"One Miso, and for you Minato-kun?"asked Teuchi

"I'll have the beef ramen, Teuchi-san." said Minato.

Having taken their orders, Teuchi returned to the back area, leaving Naru and Minato alone.

Unbeknown to Minato, a few blocks away some people where up to no good.

"Is everything ready?"

"Almost done, I just need to tie off this final wire." said a man who was kneeling down.

"Well hurry up. The boss wants this place gone, and the sooner the better."

Finishing with the last wire, the man who was kneeling, stood up. "All finished", said the man who had been kneeling, holding out the completed wires.

Taking the wires from the man, the leader removes the cigarette he is smoking, and places the lit end to the wires. A few moments later, a small sizzling sound is heard, and he drops the wires to the ground. "Let's go!"

As the wires continue to burn, the leader and his men quickly flee the area.  
-

Back at the ramen stand, Teuchi having brought Minato and Naru their orders, was discussing how bad the city had gotten of late. "Has there been any leads, as to who the leader of Root is, Minato-kun?" asked Teuchi.

"None at all" said Minato. "A year ago Misao-chan brought in a folder, that had some top members of Root listed but no information on the main boss. We arrested several of them, but none talked and were bailed out hours before Misao-chan and Keiko-chan were killed."

Teuchi started to speak again, but before he could do so, a large explosion was heard some blocks away. Minato jumping to his feet, started to run off in that direction.

"Tou-san!" called Naru.

Stopping for a moment, Minato turned to face her. " Stay here with Teuchi-san, Naru. I will come back for you, I promise". Saying that, Minato turned back around and took off towards the flames in the distance.  
-**(1)**

While Minato ran towards the fire, back in the cemetery the crow continued to peck away at Misao's headstone. After several minutes of this, the crow stopped and began to watch the ground in front of the headstone. As the crow watched, the mound of dirt seemed to slowly rise, as if someone was pushing it upwards.

After several slow minutes of watching, the crow spread it's wings as mud went upwards in all directions, and a person crawled up out of the ground. The person who was covered in mud, wrapped their arms around themselves since they were shivering, and began to look around. As the person's eyes landed on the crow it let out a loud caw, and taking flight for a moment moved over to stand on the other headstone. The person, following the crow with their eyes looked over at the other headstone.

"Caw caw."

Still shivering, the person got unsteadily to their feet, and slowly made their way over to the second headstone. Kneeling down, the person looked over the name. "K-K-Keiko". Looking back over at the grave they had climbed out of, the person read their own name. "H-how d-d-did this happen?".

The crow gave two short caws, and took flight towards a nearby tree, where it landed on a small branch. It then turned back to face Misao, and giving one more caw took off again towards the city, stopping every few minutes and looking back towards Misao. Figuring out that the crow wanted her to follow it, Misao got unsteadly back to her feet, and started off in the direction the crow had gone, wrapping her arms around her body.  
-

Back in the city, Minato having reached his destination looked over the destruction. There was glass everywhere, as well as burning flowers laying in the street. While Minato continued to look around the area, for any clues indicating what had occurred there, a car pulled up and stopped. As the driver side door opened, Minato turned to face the car, as a man with blond hair started to get out. Before the man could get out fully and close his door, Minato heard a small girl ask. "What happened Tou-san?"

As the blond haired man, got out of the car, he spoke to the girl. "Stay here with your mother, Ino." Closing his car door, the man came to stand before Minato. "Hello Minato-kun."

"Hello Inoichi-san." said Minato.

"Looks like Root made good on their threats" said Inoichi, turning to look at what had been his flower shop.

"What do you mean, Inoichi-san?" asked Minato.

"Yesterday a man came by, and told my wife and me that we needed to move." said Inoichi, with a sigh. "I told him we weren't going anywhere, and he informed me that there would be repercussions for my decision."

"Why didn't you report it, Inoichi-san?" asked Minato.

"I know I should have, but I didn't think they would go through with their threat." said Inoichi.

As the two continued to talk, other police units soon arrived, and once again Inoichi had to retell his story. The flower shop was a total lose.  
-**(2)**

As Misao continued to follow the crow and try to warm herself up, she tried to remember anything about what could have caused her and Keiko's apparent deaths. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember anything past finding herself in the cemetery. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the crow had stopped outside of a house, and she walked past it.

"Caw caw."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Misao turned back towards the crow, as it took flight again and headed towards the house. Landing on the porch, the crow turned to face Misao and waited. Misao looked up at the house for a minute, before making her way up onto the porch. Soon as she got there, the crow took flight and made its way into the house.

Misao was a little hesitant to follow, but since she was still shivering she decided it might be warmer inside. Entering the house, she began to look around and found that the house seemed to be deserted since there was thick dust on the floor as well as the furniture. As Misao stood just inside the door looking around, the crow had made its way over to a small table, where it landed upon it and knocked over a picture. "Caw."

Misao hearing the noise, steped away from the door and made her way over to the small table. Seeing the knocked over picture, she decided she'd best return it to it's original position. Reaching out her hand she gripped the frame and started to pick it up. However, before she could do so there was a flash of light, and she was flooded with memories.

Memory

Misao found her self standing next to a man with short brown hair, holding something wrapped in a pink blanket.

"We are the worlds luckiest parents, Misao-chan." said the man, placing a kiss upon Misao's lips.

As the man broke the kiss, Misao sent him a smile. "I know we are, Gojin-kun." she said. "Now how about we hold off on the romantic stuff, so the photographer can take our picture? After all I wish to spend time with our lovely daughter."

Gojin sends her a smile, and the two look towards the photographer. As a small cry is heard from inside the blanket, the photographer snaps the couple's picture.

End memory

Finding herself down on the floor, Misao sits up and begins to look over the rest of the pictures, seeing herself with either Gojin, Keiko, or the three of them together.

The crow having stayed put as Misao looked over the pictures, soon took flight. Misao raising her head, watched it as it flew towards a open door, and went inside of it. Misao wanted to stay and look over the pictures, but since the crow seemed to be a guide of some sorts, she got to her feet and made her way to the door. Reaching the door, Misao looked inside and found some stairs leading down.

Making her way down the stairs, Misao entered into what she made out to be a large training room of some kind. As Misao made her way further into the room, the crow who had been sitting on the handrail for the stairs, took flight and after flying a short distance relanded upon a bench of some kind.

As Misao made her way over to the bench, the crow let out a caw. Misao started to reach out her hand to touch the bench, but she hesitated.

"Caw caw."

Closing her eyes, for she had a feeling she was about to experience something else, Misao placed her hand upon the bench and was once again flooded with memories.  
-**(3)**

It was several minutes later, when the memories stopped, and Misao found herself once again down on the floor, but this time she had tears in her eyes. "Keiko." she cried. The crow who had watched Misao through out this time, let out a caw and took flight heading back towards the stairs, and going up them. With a determination to find the ones who had done this to her daughter, Misao got to her feet and followed the crow back upstairs.

As Misao reached the top of the stairs, the crow who had landed on top of the door, took flight and headed towards another set of stairs, this time going up them. Misao following it, soon reached the top of the stairs, and seeing the crow fly into a side room made her way after it, and soon made her way into a bedroom. Looking around the room, Misao found the crow perched atop a table, over near a closet. Making her way over to the closet, Misao opened the door and began to toss things out of the closet, until she found what she had been looking for. With the item she needed in hand, Misao made her way over to stand beside the bed, and placed the item on top of it. She then proceeded to remove her old clothes, and change.

Several minutes later, Misao was redressed in her husbands leather shirt and pants. She had also put on his police boots, and topped the outfit off by putting on his old black duster. The crow having watched all of this, once again took flight and soon landed atop a dresser. "Caw caw."

Misao making her way over there, looked at her reflection in the mirror. 'Something is missing' she thought, as she sat down in a chair. After opening drawer after drawer, she finally found what she was looking for. Reaching into the drawer, she put her hand around a small can of white face cream. Soon as her hand had closed around it, she was hit with another memory.

Memory

Misao found her self standing in the same room she was in now, but she was laughing at her husband, as he finished up his make-up. "Gojin, you look like a joke." said Misao, still snickering.

"It's funny you should say I am a joke, Misao-chan." said Gojin, turning to face her. "After all, I am the Joker. And besides you're one to talk, you know. At least my costume is original, while yours...", notices Misao glaring at him.

"Gojin, do you really want to finish that sentence?" asked Misao, with a hint of challenge in her voice.

"Uh no dear." said Gojin. "In fact, I think I hear Keiko-chan calling me.", gets to his feet, and practically runs from the room.

Misao can only laugh at her husbands antics, as she finishes with her own costume.

End Memory

Finishing with the white face cream, Misao tossed it aside, and looking through the drawer again, found the final two items she needed. Opening the tube of lipstick, she proceeded to paint her lips black. Once that was done, she dropped the lipstick, and picking up the last item made two dark circles around her eyes, before finishing it off with six lines, Two going down towards her lips, two going up towards her forehead, and one outside each of her eyes which went towards her cheeks.

With her preparations complete, Misao got to her feet and made her way over to stand before a window in the room. As she looked out into the rain soaked city, the crow came to land upon her shoulder.

End of Chapter One

**Bold Numbers**

**1.** This is for the cemetery part. I tried to make it interesting, and as close to the movie as possible, but I may not have done so.

**2.**This was supposed to be another scene from the movie, where Brandon Lee's character followed the crow. I didn't have Misao get any clothes or run into the kids, as it happened in the movie.

**3.** This memory, shows everything that happened to Keiko and Misao, before they were killed. I didn't write it in, because it will be used in a later chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After giving his report to Fugaku, Minato left the area of the flower shop and made his way back to Ichirakus. Soon as he entered the stand, and returned to his seat Teuchi asked him what had happened.

"The Yamanaka Flower Shop, was destroyed by Root." said Minato.

"Was Ino-chan hurt?" asked Naru.

"No, no one was hurt." said Minato. "The Yamanaka's were away, when the shop was destroyed.

As Naru let out a sigh of relief, Teuchi spoke. "Someone really needs to deal with this Root problem. It is becoming more and more dangerous here, as time goes by."

"I know what you mean, Teuchi-san." said Minato, looking over at Naru. "However, since the police department is so under manned, we can't fully investigate Root. And since we don't know much about the inner workings of the organization, there have been no arrests, except for the ones Misao-chan supplied information on last year."

"I wasn't blaming the police force, Minato-kun." said Teuchi. "After all, I know all about the staff cuts and lack of funding. No, all of this trouble stems from the city council and their decisions of late."

Minato merely nodded his head, as he thought about what Teuchi had said. Some minutes later, Minato asked Naru if she was ready to head home, and after she had said she was done he paid Teuchi, and after saying their goodbyes to Teuchi, he and Naru made their way out of the stand and back to the car. Once they were back in the car and on there way home, Minato decided he should tell Naru about the talk he had with Inoichi.

"Naru-chan?"

"What is it, Tou-san?" asked Naru.

"After their shop was destroyed, I had a talk with Inoichi-san." said Minato. "He told me, that since it is becoming to dangerous here for his family, they may move away."

Naru remained silent, and turned so she was looking out the window. Minato was a little worried about her, but decided to remain silent and focus on his driving, since it was still pouring down rain.  
-

Having left her room, Misao made her way down the hallway and soon entered Keiko's room. Going over to the bed, she placed her hand upon a pillow. Soon as her hand made contact with the pillow, she was hit with another memory.

Memory

As Keiko climbed into bed, Misao made her way into the room.

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow, Keiko-chan?" asked Misao.

"Of course I am Kaa-san." said Keiko. "Naru-chan and I are going to show all those other kids, how smart we are."

Misao smiled, and once Keiko was lying down pulled the covers up over her. "I know you will make me proud, Keiko-chan. Now get to sleep for you have to be up early."

"Ok Kaa-san." said Keiko.

Misao started to leave the room, but a call from Keiko stopped her. "Kaa-san, before you go could you start the music box you gave me?"

Returning to Keiko's bedside, Misao picked up a small box that was on the bedside table. Turning it upside down, she turned the small key underneath. As Misao was turning the key, Mizuki made his way into the room. Misao looking over in his direction for a moment, returned the music box to the table as music filled the room. Misao then brushed a few loose strands of hair away from Keiko's face, and placed a kiss upon, her forehead.

End Memory

As the memories stopped, Misao removed her hand from Keiko's pillow, and looked towards the bed side table, hoping to gain more memories from the music box. However, she found it gone. Reaching out her hand, she placed her hand atop the desk. Once again, as her hand made contact she was hit again with memories.

The memories soon stopped, and removing her hand from the table Misao looked back at the bed, and made a silent promise. She then made her way out of the room, and makeing her way downstairs made her way outside. Soon as she was outside, the crow having remained upon her shoulder the entire time she had been in Keiko's room, took flight and headed off towards the city.  
-

Several minutes after leaving the ramen stand, Minato pulled into the driveway of his home, and putting the car in park, killed the engine and looked over at Naru. "Naru-chan, are you okay?" he asked. "You have been pretty quiet, since I told you about the Yamanaka's leaving."

"I'm alright Tou-san." said Naru, with a sigh. "It's just that I have already lost two friends because of Root, and now it looks like I am going to loose another one." Naru paused for a few minutes, then spoke again. "Tou-san, I know I shouldn't wish harm on anyone, but I have to agree with old man Teuchi. Someone needs to take care of this Root problem, so no one else has to loose people that they love and care for."

Minato started to say something to her, but before he could do so, Naru spoke again. "We probably should get inside Tou-san. After all, you said Kaa-san was worried about me, and you know how she gets when she is mad and stuff."

Minato gave her a small smile, and told her she was right. As he took his keys out of the ignition, Naru had already opened her door and climbed out, shutting the door behind herself. As Minato opened his own door, Naru took off running, and reaching the front porch waited for him to get out and join her. A few moments later Minato climbed out of the car, and closing his door ran towards the house, and joined Naru.

"You can go first, Tou-san." said Naru. "Just encase Kaa-san, is upset."

Minato just shook his head, and headed towards the front door. Reaching it, he placed his hand on the door handle, and pushing it downward, pushed the door open and stepped inside. "Kushina, we're home." he called.

As Minato stood in the doorway, a woman with long red hair came out of the kitchen. "Where have you been, Minato? And where is Naru?"

"Naru is right here, Kushina" said Minato, reaching outside and gripping Naru's arm, pulls her gently into the room.

"You're in trouble young lady" said Kushina, looking at Naru. "Go get washed up so we can have dinner, before we have a little talk about you skipping school."

As Naru headed off towards the bathroom so she could wash up for dinner, Minato tried to calm Kushina down. "Don't be to hard on Naru-chan, Kushina. After all, it is the one year anniversary of when she lost two of her best friends."

"I know Minato." said Kushina. "And I don't blame Naru for that. What I am upset about, is the fact that she was out in the city by herself. Anything could have happened to her, what with Root controlling most of the city."

Coming to stand before his wife, Minato wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close against his body. "I know how you feel Kushina. I worry about Naru and every other child in this city, since I know Root operatives are out there, doing who knows what and recruiting anyone".

As the two continued to hold each other, Naru having finished washing up, returned to the front area. Having heard how worried her parents, were about her she felt a little guilty about skipping school, and going to the cemetery alone. Coming closer to her parents, Naru told them, she was sorry for making them worry about her.

Letting go of each other, they turned to look at Naru. Kushina walking over to her daughter, embraced her in hug. "You don't have to apologize Naru-chan. I should be the one doing the apologizing since I shouted at you, not thinking about the reason you did what you did."

Letting Naru go, Kushina placed her arm around Naru's shoulder and lead her towards the kitchen. Before joining them, Minato went over to the front door and closed it.  
-

As the crow made its way along the rain soaked streets, Misao was perched atop the roof of a nearby building. Several minutes later, the crow flew down a alleyway and landed on a over flowing dumpster. As the crow looked around, Misao was able to see everything the crow saw. As the crow looked towards the end of the alley, a man entered the area dragging a woman along by the arm.

As the woman yelled, and punched at the man with her free hand, he slapped her hard. "Shut up bitch!" As the woman fell to the ground, the man started to unbutton his pants. "Since you're down there, lets put that mouth of yours to a better use, then screaming".

The man was just about to free his cock from his pants, when he had the strange feeling of being watched. Stopping what he was doing, he pulled a gun from his pocket. "Who's there?". As he looked around the area, he caught sight of a person entering the other end of the alleyway. Turning back to face the woman he had down on the ground, the man pointed his gun at her head. "Don't come any closer, or she dies!"

The person who had entered the other end of the alleyway, stops walking and speaks. "Aww, and here I was hoping to join the party. But it is your lose.", the person turns around, and starts to make their way back the way they had come from.

The man hearing that the newcomer was a female, thought to himself for a brief moment about his possible luck of having two girls, before speaking. "Hold on a minute." called the man, which caused the new female to stop walking but not turn around. "What did you mean, when you said you wanted to join the party?"

"Oh come now." said the female. "Surely a big strong man, like yourself can figure out exactly what I meant. But if you can't, I'll give you a little hint."

As the man watches, the new woman slips off the long jacket she is wearing. As she drops the jacket to the ground, the man sees she is wearing a skin tight leather top, and really tight leather pants. And just to emphasize how tight the pants are, the woman leans forward so the man has a good view of her assets.

As the woman stands back up straight, she hears a loud sigh come from behind her. "Aww, don't tell me that sigh means I made you cum to early?"

"No no, I'm alright." said the man. "So, how much is this party with you going to cost me?"

"The party in it self is free." said the woman. "However, I am not the type of person to share, and if you really really want to see all of my assets without the clothes, that little brat you have with you is going to have to go party somewhere else."

The man stared at the woman standing some feet from him for a few minutes, before turning to look down at the girl at his feet. "You heard her brat. Now beat it, before I change my mind."

The woman with a look of relief got to her feet, and once standing ran out of the alleyway without a word. The man having turned to watch the woman leave, should have payed more attention, for next thing he knew was pain as he was hit over the back of the head, and collapsed in a heap at Misao's feet. "Hmm, typical man. Always thinking with the wrong head."

Kneeling down, Misao picked up the mans gun, and placed it into the waistline of her pants. She then hoisted the man up onto her shoulder, and stood up. Shifting the man just a bit so she wouldn't drop him, Misao began to make her way out of the alley, and back towards her home as the crow lead the way.  
-

Sometime later, the man who Misao had knocked out, was alerted to someone slapping him gently on the cheeks.

"Come on big boy, rise and shine." said a female voice.

Letting out a slight groan from the pain still running through his head, the man opened his eyes and raised his head, to find a painted face just inches from his own. "What the fuck?!" he shouted, trying to move away. However, he found that he was tied to a chair and was unable to go anywhere. "What's going on here?"

"We are having that party, I promised you." said Misao.

The man seemed to calm down a little bit, and asked. "So, you're one of those kinky types, right? You know, the whole dominatrix style and all that?"

Misao nodded, and positioned herself upon the mans lap in a straddle position. "Are you not into this kind of party?" asked Misao, in a voice that sounded disappointed.

"It's not that." said the man, with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Then what's the problem?" asked Misao, moving her face closer to his, and licking his cheek.

"I-it's just that, usually I am the one that is in control of what happens." said the man. "But I am willing to let you lead, this time."

Misao let out a smile, and pressed her lips to the mans in a kiss filled with passion. Feeling something poke her in between her legs a few moments later, Misao broke the kiss and looked down. "Looks like your little friend, wants to play too."

As the man sent her a nod, Misao returned to her feet. As she moved away from the man, he got a good look around the room they were in. "Wait a minute. I know this place."

Hearing a laugh over to his right, the man looks over at Misao. "I see you know where we are." said Misao, giving him a smile laced with evil intentions. "This is going to make my job, a lot easier." As Misao made her way closer to the man, he noticed that she held a baseball bat in her right hand.

While struggling to get free of his bonds, the man looked over at Misao. "Come on babe. There is no need for that.", nods towards the bat.

Having reached the struggling man, Misao knelt down so she was looking directly into his eyes. "Hmm, I suppose you do have a point." said Misao. "However, depending on how well you cooperate with me, will determine on if I have to use the bat or not."

The man gives her a confused look, and asks. "What do you mean exactly?"

Misao stood back up straight, and turned her back to him. "What I mean is, is that your fate is in your hands." said Misao. "You see, I am going to ask you some questions about an event that happened in this very room, one year ago. Depending on what you tell me, will determine on if I use the bat on you or not."

The man extremely nervous by this point, started to yell his head off, hoping someone would hear him. Misao ignoring his screams, since she knew no one could hear him turned back to face him with a wicked smile upon her face. "Let's start the party, shall we?"  
-

At the Namikaze home, dinner had been finished sometime ago, and while Naru had run off to get her bath, and Kushina went to make up Naru's bed, Minato went into his home office and sat down at his desk. Turning to his computer, he powered it up and waited a few minutes for everything to load. Once the computer was ready, he placed his hand upon the mouse and with a few quick movements and clicks, he had opened the file he needed. Letting out a sigh, he read the heading aloud.

"Local woman and child, found dead in alley." Running his eyes along the page, he soon stopped and began to read aloud again. "Mikachi Misao and her daughter Keiko, were found dead during the early hours of this morning. The child had been sexually assaulted repeatedly, while the only injury to Mrs Mikachi, was a single gun shout wound to the back of the head. Police have informed us, that Mrs Mikachi had been responsible for the large raid a few days prior, that had resulted in the arrest of several members associated with the mysterious group known only as Root. Police chief Uchiha Fugaku, has also informed us that he does have suspicions that Root was involved with Mrs Mikachi's death, but without any means of proof, no arrests have been made."

Minato was so engrossed in his reading, that he didn't hear that Naru had come into the room. It took her touching his arm to gain his attention. "Tou-san?"

Quickly closing the file he had open, Minato turned to face her. "What is it, Naru-chan?".

"I'm sorry to interrupt Tou-san, but it is your turn to read me my bedtime story." said Naru, fidgeting a little bit since she wasn't supposed to be in his office.

Minato seeing her fidget, got to his feet and picked her up. "So Naru-chan, what do you want me to read to you tonight?" he asked, while carrying her out of the room and towards the stairs.

"The book is on my bed, Tou-san." said Naru. "It is a bunch of stuff about legends and what not."

Nodding his head, Minato made his way upstairs and soon entered Naru's room. Placing her down on her bed, he picked up the book and sat down on the edge of the bed, as Naru layed down under the covers. "Now then Naru, which one do you want me to read to you?" asked Minato, opening the book.

"I'll let you choose, Tou-san." said Naru.

Giving her a nod, Minato turned to the contents page, and glanced over it for a few moments. Finding one he thought would be interesting, he turned to the page indicated, and began to read to Naru the legend of the Crow.  
-

Having passed out from the pain of a broken right leg, the man was once again awoken by a slap to his face. "Wake up!" shouted Misao, slapping the man once again. "We are far from finished."

Groggy from the pain, the man opened his eyes and looked towards Misao. "Why are you..."

Before he could finish, Misao had hit him across the right knee with the bat. "I am the one, asking questions here!" shouted Misao.

Feeling his knee break, the man let out a loud scream. "Fucking bitch!"

Savoring the mans screams, Misao returned the bat to her shoulder. "Now then unless you want something else broken, lets try my previous question again. One year ago, you and some of your friends came here, and killed the woman and child living here. I want to know how you got into the house."

Trying to not pass out again from the pain, the man raised his head. "I told you. We was let inside by the owner of the house."

Misao shook her head, and swinging the bat again hit the man across the other knee. As the man once again screamed, Misao said. "I have all night. However for you, sooner or later you are going to run out of bones for me to break, and I will have to start on other parts of you. Now shall we try for another bone, or are you going to tell me what I want to know?"

"You're a fucking psycho."

"I think we are passed that point already." said Misao. "Now then answer the question, or I will break something else.", prepares to swing the bat at another part of his body.

"Alright alright, i'll talk." said the man. "A man with white hair let us into the house. I didn't know who he was, until the woman called his name while we all down here. She called him Mizuki."

Misao sent him another creepy smile. "Now was that really all that hard?" asked Misao, in a sweet voice.

The man started to say something, but Misao interrupted him with her next question. "Who sent you to the house?"

"I -I can't tell you that. It would get me killed."

Misao gives a shallow laugh at this. "If you haven't realized by now, you're going to die anyway. However, at least with me you get the chance to live a while longer."

The man seemed to consider this, and letting out a sigh said. " I don't know who sent us."

Misao started to swing the bat towards the mans shoulder. "Stop please. I swear I don't know who sent us. I was approached by one of the higher ups in the group, who asked me if I wanted to make a name for myself by helping out on a job. I swear, that is the truth."

Stopping in mid swing, Misao returned the bat to her shoulder. "If you can't give me the name of the person who sent you, give me the name of the one who asked you to join them."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know his name. Since he was a higher up, and giving me a chance to prove myself, I didn't ask his name. And to tell you the truth, he scared me a lot more then you do. He was freaky strong, and built like a tank."

Misao let out a sigh, and ran her fingers through her hair. "Since you can't tell me anything about the ones who sent you here, maybe you can answer this question." said Misao. "In a bedroom upstairs, there was a music box on a bedside table. I need to know what happened to it."

"I found it after everyone else had gone to dump the bodies of the woman and little girl. I figured that since it looked pretty expensive, I would take it with me and try and make some money off of it."

"And where is it now?" asked Misao.

The man took a few moments to think, before saying. "I pawned it at that pawn shop over on sixth street. Should have gone elsewhere, since that cheap bastard only gave me a hundred bucks for it."

As the man finished speaking, he looked up towards Misao to find her gone. "Where did you go?"

Feeling something cold pressed to the back of his head, the man froze. "I do thank you for answering my questions." said Misao. "However, your crimes demand vengeance, and I'm the dark angel that has been sent to make sure it is carried out."

As the man lets out a scream of "No!", Misao pulled the trigger, shooting him in the back of the head.

**End of Chapter Two**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Early the next morning, as Minato sat at the dinning room table finishing up his breakfast, the phone rang out in the hallway. Finishing off his coffee, Minato set down his cup and getting to his feet made his way out of the room, just as Naru came down the stairs. "Morning Tou-san." she said, with a yawn.

"Morning Naru-chan." said Minato, before continuing on his way. Reaching the phone, Minato picked up the receiver and placed it to his ear. "Namikaze Residence." he said.

"Hello Minato." said Fugaku. "I am sorry to call you at home, but this can't wait for you to get to the station."

"It's no problem, Chief." said Minato. " So, what is so important that it can't wait?"

"A body was found this morning apparently dumped in Konoha Park." said Fugaku. "I have already sent Mitarashi to the scene, but I need you to join her and help her determine what happened."

"I understand sir." said Minato.

Fugaku says a few more things, before saying bye. Minato returns the bye, and hanging up the phone turns to find Kushina standing in the doorway, to the kitchen.

Seeing the look of concern on Minato's face, she asks. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not going to be able to take Naru-chan to school today." said Minato, looking past her and into the kitchen, to see Naru sitting at the table. "Fugaku-san, needs me to help another officer at Konoha park, with a body that was found there."

Kushina let out a gasp at this news, but quickly brushed it aside. "Don't worry about Naru-chan, Minato." she said. "I will take her to school, and explain to her why you can't do it."

Minato sends her a nod, and turning away from her heads towards the front door. On reaching it, he took down his coat and slipped it on. He was just about to open the door and leave, when he heard a disappointed cry from Naru. 'I'm sorry Naru-chan.', thought Minato, opening the door and leaving the house.  
-

Thirty minutes later, Minato pulled to a stop outside of Konoha park. Killing his car, and getting out of it he made his way towards the park. Reaching a area that has a fountain, he found Anko with a camera in hand, taking pictures of a male body that was sitting on one of the park benches. As Minato made his way closer, Anko took one more picture before turning to look towards him. On reaching her, Minato asked. "Any idea on who he is?".

"No sir." said Anko. "As you can see, he isn't wearing anything except his boxers."

Making his way closer to the body, Minato started to kneel down so he could examine the man's injuries better. However, before he could do so he noticed a familiar symbol, cut into the back part of the bench. Anko, seeing the look of concentration upon his face, asked. "Is something wrong, sir?"

"It's this mark carved into the bench." said Minato. "I think I have seen it before, but I can't remember where."

"It appears to be some kind of bird." said Anko. "Maybe a cult symbol or something?"

"Maybe." said Minato, still trying to remember where he had seen the symbol before. "But something tells me, it is something more."

As Minato stood there trying to figure out the symbol the coroner team arrived, and as soon as Minato and Anko moved away from the body, they went to work prepping the body for transport to the city morgue.  
-

Sometime later, Minato and Anko were back at the station. As they stood in Fugaku's office, waiting to tell him what they had found, Fugaku looked over the pictures Anko had taken at the scene.

"Looks like some one really did a number on this guy." said Fugaku, once he was finished with the pictures. "And neither of you know who he is."

"No sir." said Anko and Minato.

"And what about this symbol, you found?" asked Fugaku, picking up the picture of it.

"We don't know, sir." said Anko. "Minato-san said he thinks he has seen it before, but he can't remember where."

Fugaku looks over Minato, before looking back at the pictures. "Alright, here is what I want you two to do." he said. "Mitarashi, I want you to go to the city morgue and see if they have determined who this guy is."

"Yes Chief." said Anko, before Fugaku could finish. Fugaku sent her a small glare, which caused her to laugh softly. "Sorry Chief."

Fugaku ignored her, and looked towards Minato. "Minato, I want you to find out what this symbol means." said Fugaku. "Once we know what we are dealing with, we can focus on finding the person or persons responsible for this."

"Yes sir." said Minato.

"Dismissed" said Fugaku, starting to look through the pictures again.

Anko and Minato made their way out of Fugaku's office, closing the door behind themselves. Minato stayed with Anko, until he reached his own office where he went inside, and she made her way towards the front doors, were she made her way outside.  
-

Taking a seat at his desk, Minato thought about that symbol for awhile. But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't recall where he had seen it. Deciding to check online, he reached out his hand and powered up his computer. After some minutes of letting the computer load, Minato went online and began to search for strange bird symbols.

After a hour of this he was becoming frustrated, because his search had come up with nothing, that looked like the symbol he had seen. After thinking for a few moments, he turned to his keyboard and typed in, strange symbols in the news. Clicking on search, he waited a few moments for the results to load, then began to look them over. He had only scrolled down once, when he found, Strange symbol found at various murder scenes, baffles Detroit police.

Clicking the link, and once again after waiting for it to load, Minato saw that it was a old newspaper report, dating back to nineteen ninety four. Skipping the headline, Minato looked down the page, and coming upon something he thought was interesting, he began to read. "Detroit police reported yesterday that another murder had been committed, which included the strange bird like symbol that has been seen in recent murders." Looking over at a nearby picture, Minato saw the bird symbol was made onto the street, and from the way the picture seemed to be distorted around the symbol, he assumed it was made of fire.

Looking away from his computer, Minato powered up his printer, and as soon as it was ready he printed out the story, so he could show it to Fugaku later. With that done he went back to his searching, to see if he could find any other news reports like this one.  
-

Thirty minutes after leaving the station, Anko pulled to a stop out front of the morgue. Putting her car in park, and killing the ignition, she got out and looked up at the one story building. 'Man I really hate this place.' she thought, letting out a slight shiver. 'Oh well, I have work to do and it can't be helped.' Reaching the entrance after only a few steps, she made her way inside, and was soon stopped by a guard.

"Sorry Miss, but this is a private building." said the guard. "I need to see either some id, or you will need to leave."

Reaching into her coat, Anko removed her badge and showed it to him. The guard gave her a nod, and pressed a button next to him. Hearing a click from in front of her, Anko returned her badge to the inside of her jacket, and making her way over to a door pulled it open. Soon as she opened the door, she was hit with a blast of cold air, which once again caused her to shiver. Getting over it, she made her way inside, and the door closed behind her with a loud click.

Anko was about to make her way forward, when she was approached by a woman. "Hello officer Mitarashi." said the woman. "Are you here about, that John Doe that was found in the park?"

"Yes I am." said Anko.

"Then please follow me." said the woman, walking away.

Having lead Anko into a side office, the woman indicated to a chair. "Please have a seat." said the woman, while making her way over to a desk. Reaching the desk the woman took a seat in the chair there, and picking up a file held it out to Anko.

Anko took the file, and opening, began to read to herself. A few minutes later, Anko closed the file and got to her feet. "I should get this back to Chief Uchiha." said Anko. "Thanks for your help."

"It was my pleasure, Officer Mitarashi." said the woman, also getting to her feet.  
-

Forty minutes later, since she stopped for a cup of coffee to warm herself up, Anko arrived back at the station and stopped off at Minato's office. Knocking on his door, she heard him call out come in, and opening the door made her way inside.

"I got the information I was sent after, Sir." said Anko, holding up the folder. "How has your search gone?".

"Not sure if it is related, but I found some stuff resembling the symbol we found." said Minato. "I just need to print this last page, then I will be finished."

As Anko waited, Minato gave the command to print the page and waited for it to finish. Five minutes later, he gathered up everything he had printed off, and getting to his feet joined Anko at his office door. "Shall we go?" he asked, opening his door.

Anko made her way out of his office, and as soon as Minato had joined her, they headed towards Fugaku's office. Reaching Fugaku's office a few moments later, Anko knocked on the door, and hearing a come in from Fugaku, made her way into the room with Minato following her. Soon as the door was closed behind them, Fugaku asked. "So, what did you two find out?"

Anko stepped forward, and held out the folder she was given. "The victims name is Hashimoto Katsuro." she said, as Fugaku took the file. "From what I read in the file, he seems to be a low class offender. Mostly just petty theft, and causing a rucus every now and then."

"Good work, Mitarashi." said Fugaki, closing the folder and placing it down on his desk. "And what did you find, Minato?".

"I don't know if it is related sir, but I find a old news paper article dating back to nineteen ninety-four in Detroit." said Minato, holding out the folder he put together. "It seems the Detroit police department, had a bunch of murders which always had the same symbol near the victims, like the one that Mitarashi and I found next to our victim."

"Could it be a copy-cat killer?" asked Fugaku, having taken and opened the folder Minato held out to him.

"It may be to early to say for certain, sir." said Minato. "However, since the symbol has been seen once, it is possible it will show up again." 'Especially in this city' thought Minato, to himself.

"Very well." said Fugaku. "Since all we can do is wait and see if something else happens, we will focus on other crimes for now. You two are dismissed."

As Fugaku started looking over the stuff Minato had copied off, Minato and Anko left his office going off to do their own stuff.  
-

Meanwhile unknown to anyone else, a person wearing white face paint, was currently sitting in a tree outside of a classroom at the local school. Hearing the excited voices of children inside the nearby room quiet down, Misao let out a sigh wondering if Keiko would have been just as noisy as the others, if she had had the chance to come here like she had been supposed too.

Hearing a older voice call for attention, Misao snapped out of her thoughts, and began to listen.

"Alright everyone, if I can have your attention." called the teacher. Once everyone had quieted down, he spoke again. "I am going to call each of you up to the front of the class, and once you are here, I want you to tell me and the class, what your parents do." The teacher pauses for a few minutes, to let this sink in. "We will start with you, Naru-chan."

A few moments later, Misao heard a small female voice. "My dad is a detective for the police department." said Naru.

Misao then heard the teacher tell Naru thank you, and that she could return to her seat. A few moments later, the teacher called another name, and Misao saw a girl with bright pink hair make her way up to stand in front of the class.

The girl who seemed nervous, didn't say anything until the teacher spoke to her. "Sakura-chan, please tell us what your parents do."

"My kaa-san, works nights at the hospital." said Sakura. "I really do hope, I can follow in her foot steps someday, and help people like she does."

As Sakura ran back to her seat, the crow that had been sitting atop Misao's shoulder let out a loud, caw.

Misao jumped back into the shadows of the tree's branches just in time, for one of the kids in the room looked out the window, to see if he could see the crow. 'Stupid bird' thought Misao, as the child went back to facing the front of the room. As Misao started to move back to the place she had been before, the crow cawed once again and took flight heading away from the school. Letting out a sigh since it was obvious the dumb bird wanted her to follow it, Misao made her way up higher into the tree, were she then jumped from the tree onto the roof of the school. She then ran off in the direction the crow had gone, while staying to the roof tops of the various buildings.  
-

Close to a hour later, Misao landed upon the roof of a small house, were the crow had landed and was apparently waiting for her. Looking towards the crow, Misao asked. "Why bring me here?" She then realized the bird couldn't talk. 'Being dead is getting to me.' she thought. 'I'm trying to talk to a dumb bird.' Before Misao could complement this further, she heard the ringing of a phone from inside the house, she was standing on the roof of.

"Haruno residence." said a female voice, after the phone had rung five times. "Yea my daughter is at school, right now. Why?" A few moments of silence, before the woman spoke again. "No you can't come over here. I'll meet you tonight, like I always do." Another few moments of silence. "Yes of course, i'll wear the nurses outfit. It is the only way my daughter, doesn't know what I am really up to." Another few moments of silence. "See you tonight.", Misao hears the woman hang up the phone. "Fucking bastard, calling me at home like that." complained the woman.  
-

Several hours later, Misao who had remained up on the roof of the Haruno home saw a bus pull up in front of the house. A few moments later the girl she saw back at the school, got off of the bus and ran towards the house. A few moments later, Misao heard. "Kaa-san, i'm home."

"Welcome home Sakura-chan." said Mrs Haruno. "I need to leave for work in a few minutes, but if you are hungry, I ordered a pizza for you. It is here on the table."

"Thanks Kaa-san." said Sakura.

"I'll be home around five or six in the morning, so lock the door behind me, and be sure to do your homework." said Mrs Haruno.

"Ok, Kaa-san." said Sakura.

The talking inside the house became quiet, and Misao soon saw Mrs Haruno make her way out of the house, towards a car. A few moments later, Mrs Haruno pulled out of her driveway then headed towards the city. As the crow took flight following the car, Misao began to run across roof tops again, as the crow showed her where to go.  
-

A hour and half after leaving the Haruno home, Misao landed upon the roof of a building located in what was known as the Red Light District of Konoha. 'Hmm, looks like Mrs Haruno is keeping a little secret.' thought Misao, as the crow landed a few feet away from her.

"Caw Caw."

Sighing aloud, Misao made her way over to were the crow had landed, and looked around. Not seeing anything that looked out of the ordinary, Misao turned to look at the crow. "You're not being very helpful, you know."

Letting out another loud caw, the crow took flight and made it's way down the side of the building. A few moments later, it landed upon the trunk of Mrs Haruno's car and looked towards the parking area's entrance. Misao seeing everything the crow saw, saw someone enter the parking area riding a motorcycle. From what she could see, Misao saw that the person was fairly well built, and even though they was sitting on the bike, the person would tower over her easily if she was to stand in front of them. Some minutes later, the person pulled to a stop beside Mrs Haruno's car and killed the engine to the bike. After putting the kickstand in place, the person climbed off of the bike, and reaching up their hands, gripped the sides of the helmet and pulled it off.

After hanging the helmet onto one of the bikes handlebars, the person looked over at Mrs Haruno's car, and through the crows eyes, Misao saw him smile. "Looks like my sweet little bitch, decided to come after all." he said, turning and heading towards the building. "Guess, I shouldn't keep her waiting. But in truth, I really wish she would let me come to her home, so I could have a piece of that little brat of her's instead."

As the man made his way inside the building, Misao having made her way down off of the roof came over to stand next to the mans bike. Reaching out her hand she gripped one of the handlebars, hoping that she could find out where the man had come from. However, all she saw was him leaving a house, and riding around the city for quite some time. Letting out a sigh she let go of the handlebar, and turning towards the building, made her way towards the entrance.

Making her way inside a few minutes later, Misao wasn't all that surprised by what she saw. For topless dancers were grinding their bodies up and down poles scattered around the room, while drunk men shouted at them to see more, and waving around small to large amounts of money. Sighing at the deplorable antics, Misao made her way deeper inside and was soon stopped by a man a little bit taller then she was. "Hey babes, how about having a few drinks with me?"

Misao sent him a interested smile. "Sure. But you have to help me with something in return, deal?"

"Anything you want babes." said the man, reaching out his hand and taking a hold of Misao's. Letting herself be pulled by this man, Misao was lead over to the bar where the man called out. "I need two mugs of beer over here!" As the bartender filled two mugs with beer, the man that had lead Misao over to the bar, sat down on one of the barstools, and then motioned for her to take the one next to him. Doing as the man asked, Misao sat down as the bartender arrived, and sat the beers down in front of the man.

The man picked one up, and pushed the other one over to Misao. As Misao picked hers up, the man hit his glass against hers. "Here's to a wonderful evening, and very lovely company." said the man, downing his beer, in three quick gulps. As he slammed his glass down on the bar, he turned to face Misao and noticed that she was merely sipping on hers. "Come on babes, don't be a slow poke." said the man. "This is a party, so live it up!" Misao couldn't help but smile at the phrase live it up since she was dead, but she obliged the man buy quickly finishing up her drink. "That's the spirit love." said the man, slapping Misao on the back. "Hey bartender, give me two more!"  
-

Several beers later, the man had fallen asleep in his chair, while Misao wasn't even buzzed from drinking so much. The bartender having made his way over to them, was surprised to find Misao still awake, while her companion was snoring away. "I must admit, I am surprised that you are still awake after that many beers." said the bartender, looking down at the ten mugs in front of Misao.

"What can I say, I just seem to be very good at handling it." said Misao. The bartender gave her a nod, and started to walk away to help another customer. Before he got to far away, Misao had gotten his attention. "Since my companion is dead to the world, maybe you can help me."

"I can try." said the bartender. "What are you needing help with?"

"A friend of mine was supposed to meet me here, but I can't seem to find her anywhere." said Misao, laying on the charm. "I was hoping that maybe you could tell me where I might find her."

"Does she work here?" asked the bartender.

Misao nods. "She mentioned something about taking care of special clients."

The bartender was silent for sometime, as he thought to himself. "Oh you must be referring to Mebuki. I am not sure what she does exactly, since I haven't been here all that long myself. But she is the only person that comes to mind based on your description."

"Can you tell me where she is?" asked Misao.

"I'm sorry, but she is working now and it is against policy for her to be interrupted." said the bartender.

"But surely you can make an exception this one time." said Misao. Reaching out her arm, she gripped him by the front of his shirt, and gently pulled him closer to her so he was looking down at her breasts. "I can make it worth your while later, if you catch my drift."

The bartender continuing to look down at Misao's chest for several minutes, was at a lose for words. After a few minutes of staring, the bartender raised his head, and whispered. "You didn't get this from me. But Mebuki is upstairs, in room number five."

"It will be our little secret" said Misao, leaning closer and pressing her lips to the bartenders. As he collapsed to the floor red as a beet, Misao got to her feet. Turning away from the bar, she soon headed towards a nearby set of stairs, and reaching them a few moments later headed up them.  
-

While Misao made her way up the stairs, inside room number five, two people were just finishing up with their preparations for a wild night.

"Ok love, hold out your arm."

Doing as she was asked, Mrs Haruno held out her arm towards the man. The man gently took a hold of her wrist, and using his free hand, picked up one of several needles laid out on the bedside table. He then placed the point of the needle against Mrs Haruno's arm, and by applying a little bit of pressure, pricked her skin. He then moved his hand a little bit, and pressed the top of the needle, sending the large dose of morphine into her bloodstream.

As the man withdrew the needle from Mrs Haruno's arm, she asked. "Are you only going to give me one?"

"For now." said the man, laying the empty needle back on the table. "But if you think you need more once we start, I can give you another one."

Mrs Haruno sends a smile towards the man, and moves closer to him. She then wraps her arms around his neck, and pulling him closer presses her lips to his. The man eagerly returns the kiss, while reaching up his hands and cupping Mrs Haruno's breast through her shirt. While continuing to kiss the man, Mebuki lets out a small moan, as her breasts are fondled through her shirt. Breaking the kiss for a few moments of air, Mebuki says. "They feel much better, without the shirt.", goes back to kissing the man.

Mebuki feels the man smile, and then hears a slight ripping sound, as her shirt is torn open. The man starts to fondle her breasts again, without the shirt being in the way. However, before he can do so, a loud caw is heard and something flies into the room. Breaking the kiss again, Mebuki looks around the room, and sees a crow over near the window. "There's a big ugly bird in here."

The man lets out a sigh at the interruption. "Alright, i'll get rid of it." The man gets to his feet, and stopping at the bedside table picks up a large gun. He then makes his way over towards the window, where the crow is still sitting. "Here birdy birdy, I got a nice surprise for you."

The crow lets out a loud caw, and takes flight just as the room door is kicked open. "He doesn't like surprises." said Misao, as she came into the room and the crow landed upon her shoulder. Mebuki let out a scream, and getting to her feet ran towards the bathroom. A few moments later the bathroom door is slammed shut, and Misao hears the sound of a lock being put in place. "Looks like it is just us, big man." said Misao, smiling at the man. "But you know, for some odd reason I see you liking little girls much more then someone like me."

"I don't know who you are freak, but you are interrupting a private party." said the man, raising his gun and pointing it at Misao. "I'll give you to the count of three, to turn around and leave quietly."

"Hmm, why don't I make it easier for you?" said Misao, stepping forward so the gun barrel was pointed directly between her breasts. "Three!" shouted Misao, which caused the man to pull the trigger. Misao was knocked back from the force of the shot, and crashed to the floor a few feet away from the man. Laughing to himself and leaving Misao where she had landed, the man makes his way past her, and over towards the bathroom door. "You can come out, Mebuki!" he calls.

"Are you sure, it's safe?" asks Mebuki, not yet unlocking the door.

The man starts to tell her that everything is fine. However, before he can do so he feels a presence behind him, and quickly turns around to find Misao standing there. "What the fuck?" he shouts, just before he is hit in the right shoulder, which deadens his arm and causes him to drop the gun.

"That wasn't very nice, you know." said Misao, grabbing the gun as it fell, and quickly pointing it at the man's head.

"What do you want from me, man?" asked the man.

"We are going to discuss what you and some friends of yours did one year ago." said Misao. "Now then, I want you to take off all of your clothes, except for your underware. Once you are done with that, you are going to lay down on the bed, with your arms above your head."  
-**(1)**

After several minutes of silence, Mebuki slid open the lock to the bathroom door, and slowly began to open the door. Before she could open it to far, it was forced open by Misao. This caused Mebuki to scream again, and back further into the room as Misao made her way into the bathroom. "Please don't hurt me." cried Mebuki, stopping as she collided with the bathtub.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Mrs Haruno." said Misao, stopping just inside the door.

"H-how do you know my name?" asked Mebuki.

"We used to be friends." said Misao. "You also resemble your daughter, except for the hair color."

"Sakura?" asked Mebuki. "What does she have to do with anything?".

Misao let out a hollow laugh. "Have you ever asked Sakura-chan, what she does at school?" asked Misao.

Mebuki shook her head no sadly, and looked down at the floor. Soon as Mebuki took her eyes off of her, Misao moved forward very quickly and placed her hands on each side of Mebuki's head. As Mebuki once again screamed, Misao closed her eyes and thought back to what she had overheard outside of the school that morning.

Memories

The girl who seemed nervous, didn't say anything until the teacher spoke to her. "Sakura-chan, please tell us what your parents do."

"My kaa-san, works nights at the hospital." said Sakura. "I really do hope, I can follow in her foot steps someday and help people like she does."

End Memories

As the memory ended, Misao lowered her hands and Mebuki sank to her knees with tears running down her cheeks. "Oh Sakura? I am so sorry." sobbed Mebuki.

"You can make everything up to her by telling her the truth, and then working hard to make what she always thought of you a reality." said Misao, kneeling down and helping Mebuki to her feet.

"But what if she hates me?" asked Mebuki.

"Then you will have to work even harder." said Misao. "But know this. Kaa-san is the name for Kami-sama, when spoken by the lips of a child. Therefore even if she hates you at first, it won't last."

Misao steps aside, and motions towards the door. Mebuki hesitates for only a moment, then runs out of the room. Misao hears Mebuki pause for only a moment outside of the bathroom, before hearing her once again start running. A few moments later, Mebuki's footsteps are no longer heard and Misao makes her way out of the bathroom. Making her way over to the bed, she looks down at the man she had left there. 'Two down, and several more to go.' she thought, picking up and driving the final needle from the table, into the mans chest.

Making her way over to the window a few moments later, Misao climbed out of it and onto the fire escape. Jumping down from there she lands in a crouch, and standing up straight begins to walk away from the club, as the crow lands upon her shoulder.

**End of Chapter Three**

**(A/N: **I don't recall ever hearing Sakura's mothers name, but a search online gave me Mebuki.)

**Bold Number: 1.** This is the interrogation scene between Misao and the man. I didn't want to write it in, this time. As to what was done to him, I will reveal it, next chapter.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Thirty minutes after having gotten a call from Fugaku about another murder, Minato pulled up in front of a club. Letting out a sigh, he killed his car and opening his door climbed out. Seeing a familiar red car parked nearby, he realized that once again Anko had been sent to the scene. 'Even though she seems to be a rookie, she does have a knack for investigating crime scenes.' thought Minato, making his way towards the building, and going inside.

Once inside Minato found another officer in conversation with a man, who he assumed to be the bartender, and the person who had made the call. Minato started to make his way over to them, but the other officer looked up, and seeing him said. "Mitarashi-san is upstairs sir if you want to see the victim."

Giving the officer a nod, and changing his direction Minato headed towards a set of stairs, and on reaching them, made his way upstairs. Reaching the top of the stairs, he paused for a moment looking both directions, trying to figure out which room the victim was in. A flash of light coming from his left, had him going in that direction. After a few moments of walking, he came upon a open door, and looking into the room, found Anko standing over near a bed, where a male body was laying. Coming into the room, he got a good look at the victim as Anko turned to face him. "Hello Sir." said Anko.

Minato nodded to her, and made his way closer to the bed. Once there he looked over the body, and found that the man had been handcuffed to the bed, and his chest had giving a estimated guess, about thirty needles stuck into it. The needles made the symbol of a bird, just like the symbol that had been seen at the other murder.

"Any idea as to what he was injected with?" asked Minato, standing up, and turning to face Anko.

"No sir." said Anko. "We will have to wait for forensics to run their tests."

"Was there any prints on any of the needles?" asked Minato.

"I found a few." said Anko. "But will need to run them back at the station, before we can know who they belong to."

Minato started to say more, but the officer that had been downstairs came into the room. "Sorry to interrupt Minato-san, but the bartender showed me a recording of events that happened before the murder. He gave me the tape, if you would like to see it."

Minato gave her a nod, and the three made their way out of the room, as the coroner team arrived.  
-

Forty minutes later, Minato, Anko, and the other officer were in Fugaku's office. A television with a vcr had been brought in, and the officer who had been given the tape, placed it into the vcr, and pushed the play button.

For a while it showed only what usually went on at a club of that nature. After several minutes, the officer who had been given the video, spoke. "See this person here?" she asked, looking at the others. When they nodded, she continued. "Well the bartender told me this person had several drinks with the person sitting beside them.", points to a man with sandy brown hair. "As you can see the man is pretty wasted, but his companion is fine, and the bartender told me that they had ten beers."

"Is there a point to this, Officer Takani?" asked Fugaku.

Officer Takani, said a quick sorry, before speaking again. "Anyway, as you can see here, the bartender came over to the person, and they talked for awhile. The person obviously used their charm on him, because he becomes quite flustered. He told me, that he whispered to this person, about a friend of theirs working in room number five, up the stairs."

As the bartender collapses and the person who had been talking to him, gets to their feet and turns away from the bar, Officer Takani pauses the tape. "You can't make out the face, but based on the body shape, this person is most differently female."

"So your saying that our killer is a female?" asked Fugaku, looking at the screen.

"In this case, yes." said Officer Takani. "I'll take the tape down to forensics, and see if they can clean it up any."

Fugaku nods, and officer Takani ejects the tape from the vcr. She then makes her way out of the office. After Officer Takani had left, Fugaku turned to Minato and Anko. "Any idea as to who are victim is?"

"His name is Yoshida Hachiro." said Minato. "And he has a arrest record that is quite long sir."

"Has anything come back on the prints you found on the needles, Mitarashi-chan?" asked Fugaku.

"Only the victims prints were found sir." said Anko, with a little bit of hesitation in her voice.

"Is something wrong, Mitarashi-chan?" asked Fugaku, catching the hesitation.

"No sir." said Anko. "I guess I am just a bit tired, is all."

Fugaku nodded. "Since both of your shifts are officially over, go home and get some rest." he said.

Making their way out of Fugaku's office, Anko and Minato made their way towards the front entrance. Soon as they reached it, they made their way outside, and started towards their cars. As Minato reached his car, Anko called out a good night to him, before making her way across the street towards her own car. Sending her a small wave, Minato opened his car door and climbed inside. Starting up his car, Minato put it in gear and pulled away from the curb, passing by Anko's car.

Anko leaving a few minutes later, headed not towards her apartment, but headed in the direction that would take her out of the city.  
-

Several minutes after having left the club, Misao was walking along with no real destination in mind, for her mind was filled with memories, since she had touched the mans skin as she drove the final needle into his chest. And soon as she had touched him, she was flooded with the memories of what he had done to Keiko. The crow having remained sitting upon her shoulder, let out a caw, which snapped Misao out of her thoughts. Looking around the area, Misao wasn't to sure where she was, but noticed that it seemed to be a fairly deserted part of the city, since no one was seen in either direction she had looked. The crow having took flight as Misao looked around, landed a little distance away on the sidewalk in front of a building of some kind. As Misao made her way towards the crow, it took flight once again, and flew inside a upper open window.

Stopping outside of the building, Misao found a sign above the door. " Nakagawa's Pawn Shop." read Misao aloud. She then looked around the area once more, and finding a street sign, found out that she was on sixth street. Letting a smile cross her face, she made her way over to the door, intending to make her way inside. However, the door ended up being locked, with a long chain and a padlock. 'I suppose I could come back when they are open, but that wouldn't be fun, now would it.'

Letting another smile cross her face, she stepped back from the door, and looked up towards the window the crow had flown into, wondering if she could get in that way. However, that idea was dashed because instead of a open window like she had thought it was, it only had one of the panes missing, which was only large enough for the crow to fly into, as well as having bars covering it. Leaving the front of the shop, she made her way into the alleyway that ran along the side of the building, and came across a fire escape that lead down from the second floor. 'Hmm, odd thing to have here, since the front door is locked with a pad lock. But then again, maybe the owner lives here and has gone elsewhere.'

Making her way up the fire escape, Misao came upon another door. Not seeing any locks outside, she tried twisting the door knob, and sighed when she found it locked. Taking a few steps back, she kicked the door. After two more times of doing this, the door swung open and she made her way inside. Doing a quick look around the room, she determined that she was inside a small kitchen. Hearing a rustling sound off to her left, Misao looked towards the sound, and found the crow sitting atop a small table. Soon as Misao's eyes landed upon it, the crow took flight, flying out of a second doorway. Misao following it soon entered what she determined to be a small living room. As she looked around, the crow flew down a set of stairs, on the other side of the room. Making her way across the room to the stairs, Misao paused for only a moment, before making her way down stairs and into the shop.  
-

Having left the city limits, Anko made a left turn, and soon pulled to a stop before the gates of Konoha Cemetery. After putting her car in park, Anko reached over into the passenger side seat, and picked up her camera and a flashlight. With those two items in hand, she opened the drivers side door, and climbed out of the car. 'Not really sure what I am expecting to find here.' she thought, closing her door and making her way towards the cemetery gate. On reaching the gate, she reached out her right arm, and taking a hold of the latch that held the gate closed, raised it. Pushing the gate open, she made her way inside, and turning on the flashlight began to search the graves, for the one she needed.  
-

As he sat at a red light, Minato thought to himself about everything that had happened within the past year, as well as the recent murders. As the light turned green, Minato's thoughts were interrupted by. "Any officers in the vicinity of Sixth Street, please respond."

Picking up his mic, Minato said. "This is Detective Namikaze. I am only a few blocks away from there."

"There is a silent alarm, going off at Nakagawa's Pawn Shop, Detective."

"I'll check it out." said Minato, making a left turn.

"Ok detective. I'll send someone to back you up."  
-

Meanwhile inside the pawn shop, Misao was looking around, at the various items she found. 'Wonder how much of this stuff was attained legally?' she thought, looking over an assortment of rings.

A sudden caw from the crow, had Misao looking over towards it. Finding the crow perched atop a shelf on the far side of the room, she made her way over to it. On reaching the shelf, she looked at the items placed there, and saw that it included various types of music boxes. As she looked over the music boxes displayed there, her eyes landed upon one she recognized. Raising her right arm, Misao reached out her hand, and placed it on top of the item that caught her eye.

Memories

As various people stood around a table, Misao placed a wrapped box in front of Keiko. "This one is a very special gift from me, Keiko-chan."

"What is it, Kaa-san?"

"You will have to open it and see." said Misao, picking up a camera, and placing it up in front of her.

After eagerly tearing away the wrapping paper, Keiko found a box in front of her. Finding the end of the tape that held the box closed, she managed to pull it off after a bit of difficulty. Opening the box, she looked inside. Letting out a gasp, she reached inside and soon removed a ornately decorated music box.

"Kaa-san, this is so pretty. Thank you."

After taking a picture, Misao told her not to thank her just yet. Placing the camera back down on the table, Misao held out her hand towards Keiko, and asked for the music box. Keiko handed it to her mother, and watched as Misao turned the box upside down, and began to turn something underneath the box. Placing the box down on the table before Keiko, Misao opened the lid, and the sound of music soon filled the room.

As the song played, tears began to fall from Keiko's eyes. Some minutes later, the song ended and Keiko getting to her feet, embraced her mother, in a hug. "Thank you so much, Kaa-san."

"You're very welcome, Keiko-chan."

End Memories

As the memories ended, Misao removed her hand from the music box, and raising it up to her face, wiped the tears from her eyes. 'Keiko, I promise you that no matter what it takes, we will be together again. And for those responsible, they will live to regret separating us.'

Reaching out her hand once more, Misao picked up the music box. As the crow took flight, heading back towards the stairs, Misao followed.  
-

After spending close to a hour of searching the various graves, Anko was beginning to think that she was wrong about coming to the cemetery. Standing up from the grave she was kneeling in front of, she turned to her right, aiming to head back towards the gate, so she could leave. However, something in the distance caught her eye. 'What could that be?' she thought, heading towards what she saw.

Some minutes later, the light from her flashlight, hit a mound of dirt. 'Looks like someone has been digging here.'

Raising her camera, and after moving a bit so the moon gave her a bit of light, she began to take a few pictures. Once she had taken enough from that angle, she pointed her flashlight down at the ground and began to make her way around the mound of dirt. A few moments later she came to a stop near the edge of a deep hole. Leaning over slightly, she peered down into the hole and saw a open casket. Raising her camera once again, she took a few more pictures.

Moving away from the edge of the hole, she pointed the light at the headstone and read the name. 'Misao Mikachi.' 'This just keeps getting more and more confusing. First I find prints belonging to a Mikachi Misao on those needles the victim was stabbed with, and now I find a empty grave, bearing the same name. Chief Uchiha needs to be informed about this.'

After taking a few pictures of the headstone, Anko turned away from the grave and began to make her way back towards the gate.  
-

Twenty minutes after getting the call about a silent alarm, Minato pulled up in front of Nakagawa's Pawn Shop. Putting his car in park, he leant over and opened the glovebox. Reaching inside, he gripped the handle of his service revolver and carefully pulled it out.. Pointing the barrel down at the floorboard he pressed the magazine release button, and the magazine dropped out into his hand. With a quick glance he made sure the magazine was full, then replaced it back into his gun.

Opening his door, he stepped out. Once standing, and remaining near his car he slowly looked over the surrounding area for any signs of intruders. Not finding anyone in the vicinity, he made his way around to the front of the car. Once there he looked over the front of the shop, and saw that there was no signs of forced entry there. Moving quickly away from his car, Minato soon arrived next to the building, and pressed his back up against the wall next to one of the windows. Reaching out his hand, he waved it up and down a few times before bringing it back to his side. When no shout of warning, or shots fired happened, he turned so he could peer through the window. This proved futile, for the inside of the shop was to dark to see anything.

Hearing a noise come from the alleyway, Minato raised his gun and quickly wiped around the corner. Soon as he did this, a person wearing black stood up from a crouch. "Freeze!" he shouted.

Soon as she had heard the shout, Misao let out a sigh for letting herself be caught like this, by some apparent rookie. She thought about just ignoring the person, but the words spoken a few moments later changed her mind.

Having made his way forward cautiously, with his gun still pointed at the person, Minato told them to turn around slowly and to keep their hands where he could see them. Letting a smile cross her face, Misao did as the officer said, and turned to face him. Once she was facing him, she gave a small nod of her head. "It is nice to see you again, Minato-san."  
-

A hour after she left the station, Officer Takani made her way back inside, stopping at the dispatch station. "Is Chief Uchiha still here?"

Looking up from her computer, the dispatcher informed her that he was. Telling her thanks, Officer Takani left the dispatchers desk, and made her way towards Fugaku's office. Arriving there a few moments later, she raised her left arm and knocked upon the door.

"Come in!" called Fugaku.

Opening the door, Officer Takani made her way into the office, and closed the door behind her. "Sorry it took so long Chief, but forensics finally got done with cleaning up that video of our apparent suspect."

"Forensics does always take time, Officer." said Fugaku."So, what did they find out?"

Removing a folder from under her arm, Officer Takani held it out to Fugaku. "I'm afraid it doesn't reveal very much, Chief."

Taking the folder from her, Fugaku opened it and found that it contained only one picture, of a woman with short black hair, wearing black clothes and a long jacket like item. What stood out the most, was the face paint that the woman was wearing.

Closing the folder, Fugaku sat back in his chair, pondering this information. After several minutes of silence, Fugaku seeming to remember something, sat up in his chair and began to move stuff around on his desk.

"Is something wrong sir?" asked Officer Takani.

Not saying anything, Fugaku continued to move stuff around on his desk. A few moments later, he found what he was looking for, and picking up the folder held it out. "Look over those photos officer, and tell me what you find."

"Yes sir." said Officer Takani, taking the folder from him. Using her left arm as a make shift desk, she placed the folder upon it, and opening the folder began to look through the photos, and news articles she found inside. As she neared the end of the folders contents some minutes later, her eyes landed upon a picture of a man dressed similar to the picture, forensics had provided. Only differences outside of the fact that one was male and the other female, the male picture clearly showed a bird of some kind, sitting upon the mans shoulder. "Chief I could be mistaken, but this pic here, (holds up the pic of the man) is almost identical to the one provided by forensics. Does this mean, we have a copy cat killer?"

"It does seem that way, Officer. However, and this may seem odd but something tells me, we are dealing with something much bigger."

"Like what Chief?"

"I can't say for certain just yet, but if my theory is correct there is going to be a lot more strange murders, before this is all over with."

As Officer Takani looked back down at the picture in her hand, she thought about what Fugaku had said about more murders occurring, before this was all over.  
-

Slightly lowering his gun, Minato looked over the person before him. "You're being pretty familiar with me, considering you are a thief." said Minato. "Care to enlighten me, on who you are exactly?"

Before the person standing before him could answer, a loud caw came from behind Minato, which caused him to turn around. Seeing nothing, he turned back to confront the person before him, but found them gone. As Minato cautiously checked the area for the person, Misao looked down upon him, from her place on the roof of the pawn shop.

As Minato stopped looking around for the mysterious person and started back towards his car, Misao silently began to make her way across the roof tops.  
-

Several minutes after leaving the cemetery, Anko pulled to a stop in front of the police station. Putting her car in park and killing the ignition, she looked over into the passenger seat at the pictures she had placed there. 'How am I going to approach the Chief about this, without seeming inconsiderate of his friend?' After thinking about this for several more minutes and not coming up with a idea, she gathered up the pictures she had taken at the cemetery, and opening her door made her way out of her car. 'Guess I will just have to tell him as is it, and see what happens.' Closing her door, she slowly headed towards the entrance of the station.

A few minutes later she stood outside of Fugaku's office. Taking a deep breath, she raised her arm and knocked upon the door.

"Come in." called Fugaku. Opening the door, Anko made her way into the room. "Mitarashi-chan?" said Fuguka, as Anko closed the door behind herself. "I thought you had gone home."

Coming to stand in front of Fugaku's desk, Anko told him that she slightly lied to him when she told him about the fingerprints she had found on the needles, found in the last murder victim.

Sitting up in his chair, Fugaku said. "That is a serious matter Officer Mitarashi. May I ask why you saw fit to lie to me, about something like this?" Not meeting his eyes, Anko told him that she needed to confirm who the other prints belonged to, before she would mention them. "And have you confirmed who the prints belong to, Officer?"

Keeping her head down, Anko said. "Yes sir I have."

"And who is it that owns these prints, Officer Mitarashi?"

Closing her eyes and bracing herself for the impact, Anko said. "The prints I found sir, belong to a Mikachi Misao."

Upon hearing Misao's name Fugaku fell into a stunned silence. Anko a bit surprised that she wasn't being yelled at, cautiously opened her eyes, and looked towards Fugaku. "Chief?"

Snapping out of his shock, Fugaku turned his attention upon Anko. "Officer Mitarashi, while I am upset at you for saying something like this, are you positive that the prints you found belong to Misao-chan?"

"Yes Sir. I checked them with the records the station has on her, and they were a perfect match." As Fugaku sat back in his chair, and began to think about this, Anko got his attention. "Sir I am sorry if I am being inconsiderate to your friend, but there is something else that I found, when I went to the cemetery."

As Fugaku sat up in his chair, Anko held out the pictures she had taken at the cemetery. Taking the pictures from her, Fugaku looked them over. As he did so, Anko saw a rare look of fury cross his face. Several minutes later, Fugaku seemed to calm down a little bit, and turning in his chair picked up the receiver of his desk phone. Dialing a number, he sat back in his chair and waited for his call to be answered.

"Namikaze Resident." said a female voice.

"Hello Kushina-san." said Fugaku. "I am needing to speak to Minato."

"Hello Fugaku-san." said Kushina. "I'm sorry Fugaku-san, but Minato hasn't gotten home yet. Is something the matter?"

"No Kushina-chan." said Fugaku. "I was just needing to speak to him, about a case. Can you have him call me, soon as he gets home?"

"Of course, Fugaku-san."

With that said, Fugaku told her thank you and bye. He then hung up the phone and turned his attention back to Anko. "Mitarashi?"

"Yes sir?" said Anko, standing at attention.

"Just information you brought me is very worrisome. I want you to go Misao-chan's home and see if anyone has been messing around there."

"Yes sir." said Anko. "What shall I look for sir?"

"Anything out of the ordinary." said Fugaku, picking up a pen and a piece of paper. After writing upon the paper, he held it out to Anko. "Here is Misao-chan's address."

Taking the paper from him, Anko looked down at the address and saw that it was outside of the city. In fact, she had passed by it as she went towards the cemetery. Anko started to turn away from Fugaku's desk, but stopped when he called her name. "Mitarashi-chan, do be careful."

"I will sir."

As Fugaku sat back in his desk and began to once again look over the pictures Anko had given him, Anko made her way out of his office, and soon left the station.

**End of Chapter Four**

(A/N: I don't know if I will continue or not past this chapter, since the story doesn't seem to be drawing alot of attention. If you want to see me, let me know and i'll see what I can come up with.)


End file.
